Like U Crazy
by TripleThreatDisco
Summary: Viola never thought dressing up like her twin brother would ever amount to so much stress and confusion. Everyone thinks of her as a soccer god or as the make-up of the perfect boyfriend. Why did cross dressing have to be so freaking tiring? O/V.
1. Chapter 1

"Like U Crazy" by Triple Threat Disco

Summary: Viola never thought dressing up like her twin brother would ever amount to so much stress and confusion. Everyone thinks of her as a soccer god or as the perfect boyfriend material. Why did cross dressing have to be so freaking tiring? O/V.

A/N: Okay, I just want to say welcome! I hope you enjoy this fanfic as much as I've enjoyed writing it so far. I'd like to say that this story will go back and forth in POVs (point of views) in each chapter or every other. I will clarify the POV at the beginning of each "--". So no worries! Also, I'm always open to criticism. If you think I need watch out for something, speed something up, or rethink my characterizations, I'd be more than happy to hear your thoughts.

And at that, I'll let you get on to reading!

P.S. The title of my story is also the title of my favorite song by the Mates of State. The lyrics seem to fit this story pretty well, too. Give it a listen if you're interested. If you don't, you're not going to miss out on anything. I'm also saying this so you all know I don't write 'you' like 'U'. It's how it is for the song, so I thought I would try to keep it that way, even though I'm sure it's going to turn a lot of people off.

P.P.S. This is a Viola and Olivia story. If you don't like them together, then this story isn't meant for your enjoyment. So if you plan on reading it, please remember that it won't magically turn into a Duke/Viola story... or whatever ship that's out there.

--

(Olivia Lennox)

"This is going to be harder than you think," Maria warned me as I slowly rose from my seat, grabbing my binders and notebooks in the process.

She did have a point, but when a girl's crushing and is determined to get the boy she's crushing on to go out with her, obstacles don't really matter so much. "At this point," I told her as I glanced over at Sebastian with his friends at the opposite side of the library, "I'm at the point where subtlety isn't working. I need to be blunt and... bold." I tried to say that as strongly as I could to not only convince Maria, but myself as well.

My best friend gave me a weak smile as if prophesying the dim future of my cause. "Don't give me that look," I warned her while I fixing my hair quickly, "I'll make sure he says yes."

"Just don't act like a freak in the meantime, though," Maria quipped as she opened her laptop up and started doing God knows what on it.

I rolled my eyes, took a steady deep breath in, and by the time I was exhaling, I was on my way over to Sebastian's table.

After all of the years of make-believing my wedding day and my perfect husband, I seriously believed Sebastian Hastings was the mirror image of him. I know that that sounds dorky and a little far-fetched. I wasn't delusional and I was perfectly aware of the situation. I mean, I'm only seventeen and I'm comparing Sebastian to my "perfect husband"?! I just couldn't help it -- he was so sweet and kind... I never saw him raise his voice to anybody, not even Eunice, who was always breathing down his neck heavily in US History. He just would turn around and strike up a conversation with her, and that would just make her day. And I must admit, it would make mine as well because how often do you see a guy go out of there of their way to make a girl who was socially inept feel included?

Sebastian was also really funny! I couldn't count how many times he made me laugh... or smile. He just had a knack for saying the wittiest things. You could be listening to the teacher speak endlessly about the genetic makeup of flies, and hear a whisper meant for no one in particular and it would be the best thing you've ever heard in your life.

After only a few days with Sebastian Hastings walking the halls of Illyria, he became the most sought after boyfriend for more than half of the female student body. But the cute thing about Sebastian was he never picked up on that. It was as if he was in this La La Land of green soccer fields and the tangly webs of high school crushes never phased him there. At times, however, I did curse that little La La Land because I crushed on him too, so that meant, I didn't phase him either.

He was gorgeous as well, but not in the normal sense. Sebastian had a gentility to him. He wasn't rugged or built... he was on the skinny athletic side, which I found way more attractive. I often thought that some guys went overboard with their muscles. And while others thought perfect six packs were the deal sealer, for me, it was those green eyes of his. They were so honest and playful. I swear, one moment he would be bearing his soul to you silently and then the next acting out a scene from Zoolander imaginatively or something. Gosh, those eyes of his were the best in the school, if you asked me.

I'd made it to the other side of the library at a good pace. I didn't want it to seem like I was power-walking over to him, that would just be a little obsessive and weird. And then, I didn't want to make it seem like I was taking my time either because that would come across as attention-seeking. So there I was, at the perfect medium and walking over to the boy who held my heart without even realizing it.

He and his group of friends, which consisted of Duke, Toby, and Andrew, all realized I was walking over to them. Sebastian's three friends put on this urbane act, trying to emit a suave signal, which never really worked well. Everyone in the school knew they weren't as debonaire as they thought they were. Sure, they were easy on the eyes, but their game was kind of... off.

Sebastian, on the other hand, just smiled a comfortable smile over at me as I approached the table. He stayed relaxed and calm while the others seemed very stiff and awkward.

"Hi guys," I shot over at his pals, who just nodded and said various greetings in their different ways. I looked over at Sebastian and I couldn't help but smile, "Hi Sebastian."

"Hey Olivia," he replied, closing his English text book. "What's up?"

I shrugged and played with binder mindlessly. "Nothing much, I was wondering if you took notes in US History earlier today. I was kind of spacing out."

Sebastian smiled a cordial smile and nodded. "Yep," he answered while he picked up his messenger bag and rummaged through it for his notes. After a few seconds, he found them and handed them over to me, which I took. "Here you go. Sorry if you can't read my handwriting -- y'know, how us guys can be... sloppy. Right boys?"

Upon being talked to, his friends jumped a little and then started to ramble their "oh yeah"-s and "tell me about it"-s.

Sebastian looked back over at me with a very proud smile. He must've thought that was a slight improvement in his best buds' demeanors around girls. I gushed at his happy disposition, and almost sighed outright. Luckily though, I saved myself the embarrassment of seeming like a little fangirl. Instead, I opened his notes and read through them quickly. I noticed that he had books and authors written down in the margin, like Maria told me there should be because she actually took notes in class today as well. My plan was working perfectly so far. I tried to wipe my inner smile off my face so I wouldn't seem like a wolf after its prey before I asked Sebastian what the books were all about.

"Oh," he answered and then waved to someone behind me.

Curious to see who he was waving at, I found the biggest slut in school walking by all flirtatiously: Blaire Ravenport. She'd been telling everyone how she was going to win the Sebastian race ever since the enlightening Cesario's episode happened. Sebastian practically became the big man on campus when all of Illyria's elite saw Sebastian's ex-girlfriends run into him, practically begging for sex right then and there. I was there when that little shindig went down, and I found it very hard to not go up to each and every one of those girls and tell them to put some decent clothes on... I hadn't really thought about sex with Sebastian until I saw how each one of his ex-girlfriends were dying for it. I even remembered myself blushing at the thought of it! I knew it would be a very special and beautiful moment for the two of us. Actually, I started thinking about it again and found myself blushing at the prospect of me and Sebastian having sex.

"Olivia? Hey, are you all right there?" I heard Sebastian ask.

I shook myself from my little reverie of sorts. "Oh, sorry. That would be the perfect example of me spacing out and why I need your notes." I could feel my cheeks glow brightly from embarrassment.

Because Sebastian was such a doll, he didn't say anything that would embarrass me further. "Well, getting back to your question, those books are what Mr. Lief said needed to be skimmed through before our next test," Sebastian answered promptly. "For some reason, he thinks us reading more information will help sort out already garbled facts about the Gilded Age," he made a goofy exasperated face, "when really, it's just going to mess me up more."

"I know, right?!" I responded. He said all that I was thinking, which is why I started blanking out in US History. It was because I kept getting more and more confused about who was who and who was involved in each scandal and project.

"Hey, um," Sebastian started as he looked away shyly from me and tapped his pencil up and down. The guys' interest started to get higher -- were their eyes tricking them, or was Sebastian actually acting un-playa-like? I bit my bottom lip, praying silently to myself, hoping that there was actually a fraction of Sebastian that liked me back. "Do you want some help finding those books?"

I could've fainted out of happiness! Had my plan actually worked without me having to make the next move? Had Sebastian just played the ball that had been in his court since the moment we met, well, collided? I tried to act cool, knowing that excitement was going to freak him out. "Yeah, I'd like that. I'm not so hot when it comes to the Dewey Decimal System," I answered back almost breathlessly. This boy definitely had me wrapped around his finger.

"Well," Sebastian said getting up from his seat. He took my binder and notebooks from my hands and placed them on top of his. For the smallest instant, I thought I was going put those particular things in a shrine when I got them back, but I realized how I sounded like Malcolm and erased that psycho thought from my mind completely. His friends looked at him like he was some sort of testosterone-fueled god from Mount Olympus itself. "That makes two of us then."

I could've melted in a puddle of goo then... I really could've. But I decided that staying solid would be much more beneficial to my cause than to just melt there and bask in the glory of Sebastian Hastings. "You got the list, right?" I asked quickly. I was ready for some one-on-one time with Sebastian without being stared at by his friends and the many single girls in the room.

"Yep, got it!" He said raising his notebook up in the air.

"Great, let's start searching for them," I responded as coolly as possible. I turned on my heel and started walking towards the computer section so we could look up all of the books in the school's database. Sebastian caught up with me a second later and shot me this knee-weakening smile. I saw out of the corner of my eye that Blaire Ravenport looked shocked and appalled. Seeing this, I was very pleased with myself.

"What are you so happy about?" Sebastian asked. He must've been watching me closely. I felt my stomach fall for the briefest of seconds before I recovered.

"Oh, I just remembered Grey's Anatomy was on tonight!" I said as we reached an open computer.

Sebastian looked surprised. "It is, isn't it! I better get back to my dorm before it comes on!"

It was because of confessions like that, I knew Sebastian was the boy of my dreams. I looked over at him typing in the first book rapidly with a content smile on my face.

--

(Olivia Lennox)

We walked into what seemed like the muskiest, dustiest, and dimmest back corner of the library in pursuit of our final book. I felt like a kid who was at an amusement park as the sun was setting, knowing that their fun for the day was about to end once the sun finally slid behind the horizon completely. I didn't want this book hunt to end just yet.

Sebastian must've noticed my change in behavior because he admitted, "I wish we had more books to find. This has been really fun."

I felt my cheeks burn slightly and thanked the librarian for not changing the lightbulb in this particular back corner because Sebastian would've definitely seen me blushing. "Yeah, me too! Who would've guessed something so simple as finding books would've passed the time like it has."

Sebastian stopped in front of the farthest bookcase and knelt down, eying the spines of each book with the same decimals as our last book. Finally, he found it and slid it out of its dusty home.

Knowing that finding this book put the nail in the coffin for our little adventure, I started to feel desperate and sad. I felt like the scene was set up for the perfect make-out session: the lighting was dim, the pedestrian traffic was nonexistent, and the danger factor was at an all-time high since we could be interrupted at anytime by either an unsuspecting classmate of ours or the librarian herself. Man, did I want to kiss him!

Sebastian stood up and handed the book over to me -- I was holding the five books we had already found -- with his green eyes looking ever so sad. "Well, I guess that's th--"

Before he could finish handing the book over to me and before he could finish the defeated statement he was going to make, I dropped all of the books we had found and crashed my lips into his. All of the emotions and adrenaline coursing throughout my body caused my heart to race rapidly. I felt alleviated and ecstatic. I couldn't believe I had the guts to do this, especially since he had told me that 'I wasn't his type' only a few days prior.

_I wasn't your type, huh?_ I thought to myself while kissing him. _Then, why haven't you pulled away yet?_

To be honest, he hadn't really reacted to the kiss. He was as still as a statue. But me being so damn willful, I didn't give up. Instead, I kissed him more tenderly. That seemed to do the trick because the next thing I knew, I heard the single book he was holding hit the floor, and both of his hands lightly cup my face.

He had the softest lips I ever kissed and the smoothest and closest shaved face as well. I was actually surprised by how delicate he was. But I reveled in it -- he was my Sebastian if I had anything to say on the matter.

I deepened the kiss by slowly sliding my tongue into his expectant mouth. I leisurely tangled my tongue with his as he moved me towards the wall. This was definitely getting hot. Once my back lightly met the hard surface, I knew I was not going to fall unexpectedly from going weak in the knees.

Sebastian slowly slid his hands away from my face and down to my waist. I was surprised how smooth he was even while kissing someone. I met a lot of boys who knew how to dial a girl right with words, but when it came time to kissing, they were sloppy and disjointed. Sebastian, however, was just at skilled at this craft than his talk.

I felt my cheeks flush and I let a moan. Hearing this, Sebastian became a little bit more dominant in the make-out. He broke away from my lips and started to trace kisses on my neck. Those kisses were just as pleasurable as the ones he'd gave me earlier.

"Oh god," I whispered breathlessly.

Sebastian pulled back and looked at me with a laziness about himself. He looked like this was a Sunday morning and he had just woken up from a brilliant dream. He smiled a content smile before his eyes widened in a shocking kind of way. He looked confused and overwhelmed at the situation at hand...

He disentangled himself from me. Sebastian was paler than normal, except for the tips of his ears, which were the only things a part of him -- besides his swollen lips -- that exposed the passionate make-out we had just shared. He covered his mouth and didn't look at me.

"I, ugh," Sebastian said weakly, "have to go."

And at that, Sebastian bolted out of there. I couldn't believe the complete 180 that had just happened. One minute ago, we were kissing each other like we had never kissed anyone before, and then out of nowhere, Sebastian bails without a single reason, except for having 'to go'.

I felt like I had just been stripped of every possible comfort that I could hold tight onto as I tried to compose myself. But I couldn't. I was devastated and broken beyond belief. Tears started to sting my eyes more painfully than ever before and the terrible ringing silence of abandonment dawned on me heavily. But I wouldn't let myself cry -- no, those tears were going to stay put.

A few minutes passed with me just leaning against the wall fragilely before Maria came back to check on me. She must've seen Sebastian escape with a shocked look on his face, which caused her to come looking for me.

"Oh, Liv," she cooed sadly.

When I heard that, I swear all of the tears I had been holding back just fell. It was like I was waiting for a conclusive report to tell me that, yes, I hadn't daydreamed the whole make-out and, yes, Sebastian did run away because of no foreseeable reason.

Maria wrapped an arm around my waist gently and began to walk me over to the table we both had occupied only a half-hour before. "Let's get our stuff and head back to the dorm. Okay?"

I mumbled a blank okay and let her guide me because I had mentally, physically, and emotionally checked out.

--

A/N: Hopefully, y'all are enjoying the story so far! If you have, please drop me a review! I know it takes time out of your day, but it's nice to know that someone out there is actually reading. LOL. So please review! You don't even have to give me a clear cohesive sentence or word -- "ajsdkhfsjdhf" would be fine by me. It'll be like a code word or something. All right, I'm gonna stop my begging and watch the Italy and Romania game. Holla!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I forgot to add a disclaimer, so I shall do that now!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own She's the Man, its rights, its characters, or anything related to the film, except a Matt White CD. Don't sue me, please! Holla.

A/N Continued: I just wanted to say thank you for everyone who posted a review. I can't express how much it means to me without literally saying exactly that. You all are freaking amazing... no lie! Please keep it up because the happier I am writing, the better the story. Okay... let's hope I don't jinx myself now.

But before I begin, I'd like to make a few things plain since Unknown Lazy Ass thought I should point out some things.

1.) I will be going back in forth in POVs. If it feels disjointed or awkward, I'm sorry. I really want both Olivia's and Viola's perspectives out there so everyone is included in on what's going on.

2.) I did mention the "You're not my type" thing in my story; however, this story is not going to follow the movie's storyline that much. There will be a few key things I'll hit on sometime or another, but mostly, this story is one big creative freedom. Take for example, Duke not A.) being obsessed with Olivia, B.) teaching "Sebastian" more soccer in exchange for help in the girl department, and C.) caring that "Sebastian" is kind of making an effort with Olivia. Duke's more of best friend in this story rather than a "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" kind of guy.

3.) Viola is still thought to be "Sebastian". The Cornwall game has not happened yet! It'll happen a little farther into the story... just not yet!

4.) I again apologize for the story's title. I'm not that big of a fan of it, but I do love the Mates of State song "Like U Crazy", which was kind of a muse and inspiration for the story. Me being a big fan of music, I love to pimp the acts and songs that I love. So yeah... I'm a little selfish. Haha.

I think I clarified everything... If there's anything you all think still needs to be cleared up, let me know! I'll be more than happy to do it.

Again, thanks so much for everyone's support!

--

(Viola Hastings as Sebastian Hastings)

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!" I mumbled to myself in my dorm, well, my brother's dorm. I sit down on the edge of the bed and put my face in my hands. "What the hell did I just do?!"

_Well, you just made-out with Olivia in the library. Can you say kinky much?_

Before I could really fully make out the make-out, Duke busted in the room like a kid jacked up on sugar. "So?!" He excitedly asked. "What happened?!"

For some reason, he nor Andrew nor Toby picked up on the not so good vibes I was emitting as I rushed back to our table to pick up my stuff and then split completely. I didn't even acknowledge him... I don't think I could even if I wanted to.

"Sebastian, dude," Duke continued as he knelt down in front of me with his same old happy-happy joy-joy demeanor about him. "You need to tell me what happened! I'm your best friend!"

"You're acting like such a girl," I weakly informed him without looking at him.

"And you're acting like a little bastard! Now, spill! Everyone's already talking about it!" Duke, in turn, unknowingly _informed_ me.

I looked at him quickly, which surprised him a bit, causing him to lose balance slightly. "What?! What are they saying?"

Duke laughed a bit; he must've thought I was trying to be a sly dog about it, but I wasn't. Oh no, I wasn't at all! I didn't want rumors to be flying around. If rumors flew around, then that would mean Olivia would be called all sorts of terrible names and I would be glorified for something I deserved no distinction for, and it definitely shouldn't end up that way to begin with. I cursed the double-standard and threw myself back into the bed.

"Don't worry, man," Duke said smiling. "Everyone's saying you must've given her the time of her life 'cause she had to be walked out by Maria after you left."

"Oh shit!" I exasperatedly mumbled. I covered my face with my hands again.

_Great job, Viola. You really messed things up this time! _

"You're going to be seen as --"

"The biggest jackass in the world!" I finished for him. That statement seemed to wake Duke up.

"Wait," Duke started, furrowing his eyebrows confusedly, "what?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

Duke scoffed; his attention had piqued and there was no way in hell I was going to get out of telling him what actually had happened. "No way, man. You're gonna tell me what happened now."

I huffed loudly and uncovered my face. I looked pointedly at the ceiling above me. "I bailed."

"You bailed? What? Like you left afterwards without saying how amazing she was or something? That's not mandatory, you know. So...?" Duke offered. It was obvious he wanted to understand exactly what had happened so then he could give me his two cents on the situation.

"I mean," I started quite unhappily, "we were making out and it was... _amazing_, and then," I couldn't bring myself to say the rest.

"What? You caught wood?" Duke again continued, trying to make heads or tails of all this drama.

"No!" I snapped defensively.

"Hey, man. I wouldn't blame you! Olivia's," Duke paused while he thought of Olivia, "hot. Shoot, I know I would've --"

"Yeah, yeah," I interrupted, "I bet you would've. Anyways, getting back to the honest truth and not some goddamn rumor... I freaked out and bailed. Don't ask me why 'cause I sure as hell don't know why." That was a lie. I knew for a fact why I bailed. It was because I woke up and realized that I was a girl dressed up like her brother, who just so happened to be making out with a girl who had no clue of my crossing dressing escapade, which meant she inadvertently fallen for my Pretend!Sebastian. Gosh, it was confusing just explaining the whole web in my head, let alone saying it out loud!

Duke looked at me like I was the stupidest person in the world. "So... you bailed on _Olivia Lennox_ because you freaked out?"

I huffed for the second time after being questioned persistently. "Yes, God, I'm such an asshole! I didn't even give her a good reason, I just told her 'I had to go.'"

"'You had to go?!'" Duke repeated disbelievingly. I never knew boys could be just like girls in these sort of situations. Duke reminded me of Kia and Yvonne while I was telling them about my first kiss with Justin. I bailed on that one too, but this one was a little more detrimental to both Olivia and I. I knew for a fact that Olivia was going to be all sorts of messed up after this latest bail of mine and I was going to feel like a scumbag for a long while to follow.

"I know!" I agreed. "I'm such an ass!"

Duke laughed hollowly. "Yeah, you are. What were you thinking, Sebastian?! Do you know how many guys were depending on you to seal the deal? Many! Me included."

I didn't even acknowledge his statement -- I did not care that so many people were depending on me to hook up with Olivia so they could live vicariously through my experience. All I cared about was how Olivia must be feeling...

"I need to go see Olivia. I need to apologize," I said out loud, not really specifically to Duke. It was more like talking to myself in pursuit of convincing myself to do something.

I got up off the bed and started to make my way over to the door before Duke interjected, "I don't think that's a good idea."

I looked back at him, "Why?"

"Because you know how chicks are when they're mad at us," Duke simply said as he got up and plopped himself into his computer chair. "You have to give them at least a day to mull over what happened and then another day to let them discuss it with their friends before they're even going to want to hear your apology."

Duke had a point. A really good one, for that matter. Since I was so used to being Viola, I never really thought about the situation from a guy's point of view. Duke was right, I would have to wait to see Olivia for a few days if I wanted the chance to talk to her. I remembered I used to play this cat and mouse game with Justin every time he pissed me off by saying something completely chauvinist about women in general.

Defeated, I walked back to my bed and slouched down on it. "I'm such a douche," I said meekly.

"Yeah, you are," Duke answered as if he was dubbing me as such. "But don't worry, Grey's Anatomy's on tonight. I'm sure that'll make you feel better." He was a quick one!

I laughed sardonically at that statement, grabbed the closest pillow, and chucked it at him, hitting Duke square in the face.

"Oh," Duke said warningly, "you're gonna pay for that!"

The next thing I knew, my face was meeting an on-coming pillow. I was happy it stung, too, 'cause I deserved it.

--

(Olivia Lennox)

"I don't want to go," I mumbled while wiping the few silent tears that were falling from eyes. Luckily, my back was turned to my best friend, who was trying to get me out of bed.

"Liv, we talked about this, remember?" Maria said gently as she rubbed my back like any great best friend would do in this circumstance. "You said that you were going to get out of bed today and show that Sebastian Hastings exactly what he walked out on."

At the mentioning of his name, I felt a fresh batch of tears coming on. "No," I shakily replied, "I don't think I wanna do that today."

I heard Maria huff lightly. She was trying to be as supportive as possible, but after hearing the same line for three days now, she was starting to get a little tired of it. But she didn't say anything -- she knew it would probably just make me cry more.

I had cried a lot since Sebastian bailed on me. I didn't like crying, I never was a fan of it. And having cried almost every other twenty minutes for the past four days, I was becoming less and less of a fan each time.

So many questions had flooded my mind. Why did he bail? Was I not that great of a kisser? Did I smell weird? Did I miscalculate how he reacted? Was I fat? Each time I got to that question in particular, I laughed at myself for even thinking that. I knew that I wasn't fat and that it was just a stupid insecure question to begin with.

"Liv," Maria started softly again. I felt the bed shift, she must've sat down next to me. "Please get up! I'm tired of seeing you this way. I know what he did was totally," Maria paused to find the right word, "unforgivable and hurtful, but I think it's time to show the world that pretty face of yours!"

I laughed apathetically at that. I knew I probably had bloodshot eyes, a pale tint to my skin from crying so much and eating so little, and bags under my eyes from a lack of sleep. But my best friend continued on, "Everyone understands what happened, Liv." I felt myself cringe upon hearing that. "No one is going to judge you."

"Great," I started, "now everyone can only wonder why exactly Sebastian left me without so much as saying bye."

"No, actually," Maria began in a matter of fact way, "Sebastian set the record straight. Pretty much everyone thinks he's a dumbass. Believe me, I can't tell you how many guys I've heard say that if they ever had the chance to make-out with you, that they sure as heck wouldn't run away -- no matter what happened in the process."

Even though that little tidbit of knowledge was supposed to boost my ego and make me feel better, it didn't. Just knowing that Sebastian was honest about what happened, even if it would be disastrous to his playa persona, made me see that he was such a good guy... the very same good guy that didn't want me... who was repulsed by me.

Maria must've taken my silence as a good sign because she got up from my bed and pulled the covers off of me. "Let's go then!" she announced cheerfully while grabbing my arm and pulling me up off of the bed. "Get in the bathroom, shower, and get all dolled up. You're gonna make heads turn today!"

--

(Viola Hastings as Sebastian Hastings)

"Hey Sebastian!" someone called out to me. I had gotten used to being called Sebastian, so I turned around and to see who the person was. It was none other than Blaire Ravenport.

"Hey Blaire," I greeted back with a faint smile. I was unsure what she was going to say to me -- I didn't really know what any girl thought about the situation. However, I did know what the boys thought. A lot of the guys kept bringing up how stupid I was for not closing with Olivia, but then again, if they really knew who I was, I'm sure they wouldn't be having the same reaction. Well, at least if I was in drag while doing so. If I wasn't, they probably would've just enjoyed the show for however long it lasted.

Blaire smiled a wolfish grin at me, "So, how's your day going?"

I shrugged. To be completely honest, it was going like it normally would minus the guys reminding me that getting a boner would've been way cooler than leaving a girl like Olivia Lennox mid-make-out. "I guess it's going pretty well," I answered. "And yours?"

"Better now that I have your attention," she said as seductively as she possibly could. Blaire even bit her bottom lip. Nothing could've sickened me more.

I felt myself blushing, but it wasn't the good kind. It was the very uncomfortable kind to be very specific.

"Um," Blaire continued unabashedly while she stepped closer to me and started playing with my messenger bag's strap. "I was wondering --"

Luckily, someone patted me on the back, I looked up to find my best friend Duke had came and saved the day. Blaire looked like she was royally pissed at having someone interrupt our, well, _her_ conversation. She must've thought that I was actually going to take the bait she was about to drop my way.

"Duke!" I said very, very excitedly. Duke gave me a funky look as if telling me I was acting very uncool. I couldn't care less because I didn't want to act cool around Blaire. "My best friend in the whole wide, way wicked world!"

Duke laughed a little. "Ah, Sebastian... You're... my best friend too?"

"Duke," Blaire snapped, causing both Duke and I to look at her. "I was going to ask Sebastian something before you rudely interrupted."

Duke's demeanor changed a bit. "Oh, I'm sorry. I guess I'll --"

"Nah, it's cool, Duke," I told him quickly. I wanted to shut him up before he could say he was going to leave. I looked back a Blaire with forced sorrow -- I could practically hear the violins playing in the background. "I'm sorry, but Duke and I had this," I looked around, making sure no one else would overhear, "prank set up to happen in, like, five minutes. So if we don't get a move on, it's not gonna happen."

Me being a girl, I knew any girl would find that adventure cool, dangerous, and funny. So I hoped that excuse for having to slip away would work. I crossed my fingers behind my back and waited for Blaire's response. The brunette looked a little miffed at me needing to leave, but she didn't say anything. "Okay, I guess I'll just talk to you... _tonight_," she said with a wink. I guessed she was trying to be sexy or something, but it really didn't phase me. Instead, I just laughed and said okay.

I grabbed Duke and pulled him along with me down the hall.

When we were far enough away from Blaire, Duke looked over at me and said, "I can't believe you pulled that crap with Blaire. Everybody knows that she has the hots for you! You could totally get your swerve back if you and Blaire just hooked up."

I rolled my eyes, "I would never sleep with her. She's definitely not my type."

And upon saying that, I saw Olivia for the first time since the library encounter. She looked drop dead gorgeous. I couldn't help but stare, no... gawk at her. My heart started to race like it had when we were kissing in the back of the library.

_Gosh, why the hell did I run out on her?_ I caught myself asking.

I shook myself from that thought and responded like a very, very _sober _and _reasonable_ Viola would.

_Because I'm a girl and because this is one whole big charade that'll be found out soon enough! Better to have stopped it before it went any further. _

Now, with my head out of the clouds, I realized that I had been staring at her for quite a while. Luckily, she hadn't noticed my freaky creeper moment. But right when I was about to look away, she noticed me and my stomach dropped. Her allure was gone as soon as her eyes met mine. I saw the damage I had caused for the first time in plain sight. She looked broken and tired and... unsure of herself.

_Great. I made her feel as if she wasn't worth a full make-out. Perfect. Now I'm the biggest asshole in the world. I've created an epic fail that would challenge almost every epic fail in history. Go me..._

Right when I felt like I couldn't be any more of an ass, Maria popped up out of nowhere, looking at me with a devilish gleam in her, telling me I was going get it.

"Hello there," she greeted feistily.

I swallowed thickly and mumbled hi back.

"You have some of Olivia's belongings, like a binder and some of her notebooks." Maria reported bluntly with her arms crossed. "I'll be needing those."

I couldn't blame Maria for being so snappy with me. I mean, if I was Olivia's best friend, I would probably being doing the same exact thing. I looked over Maria's shoulder and saw that Olivia couldn't even look at me. She looked like she had tears in her eyes. I wanted to tell her everything -- I wanted to show her that I wasn't worth crying over. I wanted her to see that I was just some idiot who thought parading around as her twin brother would be a harmless task to get to the next level in soccer.

I felt my heart breaking painfully in my chest. I wanted to give her a...

_Nope! Stop thinking right now or you shall slap yourself like a crazy in the middle of the hall for everyone to see!_

"Hello! Over here, buddy!" Maria shouted, which definitely got my attention. "The binder and notebooks."

"Oh, right," I said quickly as I remembered my new task at hand.

I had been carrying her stuff with me ever since I had accidentally grabbed them along with my stuff as I ran out of the library four days prior. I had a handful of opportunities to give them back to Maria, but I never had the guts to go up to her and hand them over.

I whipped my messenger bag around to rest in front of me and unzipped it. I reached in and grabbed the red binder and two notebooks I knew to be Olivia's. I slowly got them out and handed them over. "I think that's all of it."

Maria yanked Olivia's effects out of my hand and spat a merciless thanks my way before turning back to Olivia and telling her not to look at me, that I didn't 'deserve it'. Olivia followed her best friend's orders to the 'T' and didn't so much as give me a side glance.

"Ugh," I groaned as I turned around and hit my head against a locker.

Duke let out a 'whoa' and then turned back to look at me. "That was a mindfuck if I've ever seen one!"

"Gee, thanks, Duke!" I replied ravenously as I turned around and leaned against the locker my head had gotten acquainted with a few moments before. Crossing my arms over my chest, I watched Olivia at the end of the hall before she slipped into a classroom. "I feel like shit."

Duke laughed hollowly and patted my shoulder, "I feel like shit just for watching your slaughter!"

I mimicked what he said while I looked at the classroom Olivia had disappeared into. I hoped that she wasn't feeling as badly as I was. I hoped that watching her best friend rip me apart passive aggressively cheered her up. I knew I deserved it, I just hoped it made her feel better. I didn't want her to feel sad. She looked like she had been for a while now, and I didn't want that.

"Come on," Duke said as he shook me, waking me up from my thoughts, "let's get to English before Mr. Caulfield bitches us out for being late."

"Yeah, good idea," I agreed as I shoved myself off the locker and walked beside Duke.

He was a really good friend and for the rest of the trip to the English hall. I felt even worse for knowing that whenever he found out I wasn't Sebastian but Viola, our friendship probably wouldn't last.

_I suck._

--

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. If not, yell at me. If you did, give me a high five. Also, constructive criticism is welcome still. In a review, I was told that some of my sentences were awkward. This time around, I tried to watch myself... If you find this characteristic distracting, please let me know. I even speak awkwardly, so I'm trying to improve on my bad habits all around now. LOL.

Please give me some love, hate, and asdkjfhsf. I love hearing from y'all... it pretty much makes my day. And I definitely need it right now because the person I was banking on to be my roommate for college can't be it anymore... So I need some major love. LOL. I'm feeling really blue right now... But don't let that stop you from giving me your honest opinion. I need to train myself to be a writer first and a human second. / Yep, that's what I need to do.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Wow! A huge explosion of reviews! All right, where to start? Okay, thank you so much for all of the high-fives and "please update"-s -- those are always such a nice treat to see. You all are seriously the best, and I'm not saying that flippantly either. I seriously think I have the best set of readers out there... To say the least, you guys are so fun to hear responses from!

Hopefully this doesn't sound weird or anything, but I actually checked out all of your guys' profile pages just so I could see what kind of group I was writing to (like if it was other writers or readers, She's The Man fans, hardcore O/V shippers, et cetera). I have to say that I'm kind of shocked by how diverse y'all are! Makes me happy to know that I'm not writing for a specific group; well, I know you all are obviously She's The Man fans because you came upon my story... But yeah... Just wanted to say that it's cool to know that. I think all of you writers out there should do that sometime. It's like research almost, only more fun. Maybe it'll teach you how different all of your readers are too! Oh, and I cannot believe that someone ships Brooke and Lucas from OTH! No way -- Leyton all the way! Just kidding... I extend the olive branch... Brucas is hot, too! LOL. And holla to all of the Harry/Hermione shippers (pumpkin pie for life -- screw being "delirious")! Okay, I'm going to shut up now...

Oh, this chapter has some Viola "Sebastian" and Olivia interaction!

Also, I've been meaning to say that if you all think my chapter length is too short, just holler at me. I'd love to know if you think it's too short or just right. I hate choosing chapter lengths... My average is about seven or eight pages using Pages on my MacBook Pro. So I don't know how long that is in Word or Word Perfect standards... So yeah, tell me your thoughts on that -- it'll be greatly appreciated!

--

(Olivia Lennox)

I zoned out entirely during the lecture Miss Stark was giving about real GDP and nominal GDP. I was too preoccupied with my own troubles to worry about the economy in terms of those two indicators.

I was still dealing with the shock of seeing Sebastian so soon. He looked worried and sad and, well, as down in the dumps as I did. I still had no clue why he ran away and even though it still hurt me, I couldn't bear the thought of him being unhappy. I just wished that his day would get better, that is, until I realized that I had Biology with him later on today.

_Oh god, that's going to be such a debacle._

"Miss Lennox," I heard and jumped at the sound of it. I looked around to find that Miss Stark was staring directly at me and so was everyone else.

I cleared my throat, "Yes?"

"Please try to pay attention today. You've already missed one major class period pertaining to GDP, if you don't try and scramble today, you won't fair well on the quiz at the end of the week."

I hated when teachers called people out in front of the entire class. It made me pity whoever it happened to, especially if they were having to deal with problems the teacher wasn't aware of. But more so, I hated when it happened to me.

"Yes ma'am," I replied lowly.

Miss Stark got back to rambling on and on about the differences between the two GDPs and how to figure them out. Even though she warned me that the quiz would be difficult if I didn't pay attention in class, I didn't really care. Who would if their heart was crushed by an unknown explanation that they still had yet to receive? Plus, knowing that I was going to be seeing Sebastian later and be his lab partner, meaning I was going to get all the alone time I didn't want, made me feel even worse.

The period passed relatively quick after that. I caught a worried glance from Miss Stark, who must've finally realized that I wasn't feeling all too well, as I left the classroom.

I walked out into the hall and found Maria waiting for me immediately. "How was class?"

I frowned, "I can't really tell you."

She gave me an understanding look and nodded.

We walked to our next block, which we had together, that just so happened to be Health. The teacher, Mrs. Montag, reminded me of Eunice forty years from now. She was kind of unhinged, but sweet nonetheless. I knew that it would be a very easy class to handle since most of her classes consisted of us learning about organs of the body, why smoking was bad, and why not to become bulimic or anorexic.

I walked into the class with Maria followed closely behind me and took my normal seat in the back of the class.

Once the bell rang, Mrs. Montag waved everyone to their seat joyfully. "Okay class! Today's probably going to a little more... interesting since most of you have been asking me when this particular subject was going to be broached."

I sat up quickly. I knew exactly what Mrs. Montag was getting at because I had been one of the people to ask her because I thought it would be a funny thing for her to teach since she was so much like Eunice. "Oh no," I mumbled to myself as I leaned my elbows against my desk and covered my face with my hands.

"Most of you seem to know what I'm getting at," Mrs. Montag continued still, "and that's sex!"

Most of the students in the room tried really hard not to laugh at Mrs. Montag because they didn't want her to give them a lecture about how serious sex was. That probably would've been the biggest cock block to have ever existed.

Rubbing my face roughly while silently giving myself a pep talk, Mrs. Montag continued with her introduction.

"You see boys and girls, sexual intercourse is something all of you will take part in later on your lives." A few lacrosse and water polo players in the room scoffed at that. They wanted to make sure each of their buddies knew they were getting plenty of action.

For a split second, I thought of Sebastian and I making love before I inwardly berated myself for it. Maria looked over at me as if saying sorry. It wasn't her fault that I was one of the people to ask Mrs. Montag to talk about sex. If anyone should be saying sorry, it was me to myself.

_Sorry._

_Shut the hell up, you freaking idiot!_

Now that that was settled, I prepared myself for a long class.

"First things first, I must tell you that abstinence is key, kids. If you wait, you won't catch sexually transmitted diseases or get in a sticky situation --"

A few people laughed at the double entendre.

"Like teenage pregnancy," Mrs. Montag finished.

A hand from the front of the room shot up. I rolled my eyes when I saw it was Malcolm's.

_Please don't let him look back at me after he asks the question. Please!_

"Yes, Malcolm. What's your question?"

"I was, ugh," even though I couldn't see Malcolm's face, I was sure it matched the color of the tips of his ears, which were burning red, "wondering... about a myth."

Mrs. Montag sat down on the edge of her desk, which was full of weird gizmos and gadgets. "Which myth is that?" Mrs. Montag questioned in return barely above a whisper.

Most of the class sent each other furtive looks, silently saying, 'This was too good to be true.'

Malcolm laughed dryly, obviously hardly believing he was setting himself up either. "I was wondering about --"

The classroom door was opened widely as an office aid walked in with a pass and handed it over to Mrs. Montag before turning on his heel and getting out of the room before a word could be spoken to him. Mrs. Montag read the pass before telling Thomas Metzger he was needed down at Headmaster Gold's office.

"I guess this is about what he caught Emily and I doing last night," he whispered to his best friend Mark before getting up. Mark laughed at Thomas' remark and high-fived him.

When I heard this, I thanked my lucky stars that Headmaster Gold hadn't caught Sebastian and I making out in the back corner of the library. Heck, he already gave us an abstinence talk the first time we met and even then it was awkward.

_If Gold had caught us though, Sebastian wouldn't have run out then..._

For the second time in the hormone-crazed class, I reproached myself. Actually, I nearly slapped myself.

When Thomas left the room, Mrs. Montag remembered that Malcolm was asking a question. She looked back at the mousy blond and asked him if he could repeat his question.

Malcolm started to rub his temples. "Never mind, if it's just a myth, then it's just a myth!" he squeaked out.

But before I could thank the heavens above for him not looking back at me, he did. I felt my face radiate with heat. I was totally blushing. Everyone in the class looked back at me too, including Mrs. Montag. Most of the guys started laughing and whispering to each other how they knew which myth Malcolm was talking about.

I looked bitterly down at my desk, hoping this would blow over as soon as possible.

Luckily, Mrs. Montag wasn't completely ignorant to recognize blaring embarrassment, so she got the class' attention back by talking about each gender's sexual organs.

As for me, I melted down into my seat, trying not to think about sex altogether.

--

(Viola Hastings as Sebastian Hastings)

Looking all around the cafeteria for Olivia, I set my tray down on top of Andrew's hand absentmindedly.

"Hey, man," he called out, sliding the tray off of his hand before my soda could topple over and spill all over his precious Zinedine Zidane jersey.

"Oh sorry, I was just --"

"Looking for a certain blonde, who's avoiding you like the plague," Duke finished for me with a wily laugh following closely afterwards.

I smirked and took my seat, "Exactly."

"Well," Toby started while looking behind me. "I guess you're not going to have to look for long."

I spun around and saw Olivia in the lunch line with Maria. You could tell that she knew I was in there and was making a point not to look at me. An invisible dagger sliced my heart. "Ugh," I groaned, turning around to look back at my tray, "I deserve to die a traitor's death."

The boys laughed at me. They agreed, I did and I deserved to because --

"Yeah, I know! I deserve it because I didn't seal the deal for all of men at Illyria and all surrounding areas who had never had the chance to kiss Olivia Lennox. Thank you for reminding me for the millionth time!"

And at that, a flair of Viola the Drama Queen spurred me to get up from my chair, grab my soda and walk towards the door, leaving a tray full of food and snacks on the table.

"Ah, c'mon, bro! We're just messing with you!"

I didn't stop and turn around like I normally would've. It wasn't that it was getting old, it was because each time I was reminded of the make-out, I had to face the music on why I was scared about it to begin with. I couldn't have the feelings I had had when I was kissing Olivia. I couldn't because I just... couldn't!

I busted through the cafeteria doors, loosened my red tie, unbuttoned my top collar, and continued my retreat until I ended up at the bleachers overlooking the practice soccer field.

"Home," I let out breathlessly upon seeing the luscious green field.

I took seat and gulped down the rest of my drink in peace. Only a few people were out at the bleachers, which surprised me because it was such a beautiful day outside. I hadn't really noticed before, I suppose that was because I was so caught up in drama to really care.

One thing I could always count on was soccer. Everything about the sport made me love life -- the smell of freshly cut grass that filled the air, the chalk paint I would get on my cleats just from running over it, the burning feeling I would get in my lungs when I was pushing myself hard... the feeling of excitement when I was just ten yards away from the goal and was winding back to shoot... Everything. But most importantly, it just made me forget all of my problems.

"Sebastian?" A small voice asked.

I looked behind and saw Eunice just a few rows up. "Oh hey, Eunice."

Eunice gathered her lunch and took a seat next to me. "What are you doing out here? You usually sit with the team during lunch."

I smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I usually do but they've been heckling me lately."

"About the Olivia thing?" Eunice asked. I wished she hadn't; I really didn't want to think about that right now.

"Yeah," I responded as I huffed.

Eunice just nodded, she didn't try to follow up with more answers to figure out any of the missing pieces. I was grateful for that since so many other people chose to do the exact opposite and then they could mock me in the process.

It was an awkward silence that followed soon afterwards. I didn't really know what to say to Eunice. I mean, she's a nice person and all, but I knew we didn't have much in common. But finally I decided that there was nothing better than to discuss soccer since the practice field was right in front of us.

"Are you going to the Red Wall game tomorrow?" I asked scratching my wig. I always hated that it would start to itch whenever someone was around.

Eunice started to nod slowly, eyes nearly popping out of her head. "Oh yes! I wouldn't miss it for the world!"

I smiled a small smile. I had to hand it to Eunice, she sure knew how to make me feel a little better. "Good," I responded happily, "because I think it'll be a good match to watch."

"You're going to score so many goals," Eunice then said bluntly, shaking practically.

"I hope so, I need to have some sort of release from all of --" I waved my hand all around me, "this. Whatever it is."

The school bell rang faintly in the background, telling both Eunice and I that Biology class was going to start up in seven minutes. I offered to carry Eunice's books while she finished up her drink, which she took me up on eagerly.

I was glad to be walking into the classroom with someone. I knew that every eye would be on me once I entered, so I would need all of the support I could get. I hoped to God that I wouldn't blush when it all went down.

With only seconds to spare, Eunice and I walked into the classroom before the bell rang.

"Nice timing you two," Mrs. Plainview said.

Like I had predicted, every eye was glued to me in this sort of weird way. They were obviously wanting to see how Olivia and I were going to interact. Thinking of Olivia, I chanced a glance at our lab table to find that she was the only one not looking at me. She was finding her lab notebook much more interesting than me.

Handing Eunice her books back, I walked over to the lab table I shared with Olivia and sat down across from her. She didn't look at me when I arrived or for the next hour. It was definitely awkward to just sit across from the girl and know full well that she was thinking about what had played out between us four days ago while I was too. There were weird vibes shooting all over place.

I wanted to talk to her. No, I needed to. I needed to just clear the air, even if it meant her hating me for the rest of the semester. But every time I was about to talk to her, someone came over to pass out something or to collect something. I had impeccable timing as did they.

Finally, not really caring if every set of eyes were on us, I cleared my throat and licked my dry lips.

"Olivia," I started quietly.

She didn't look up at me. Hell, she didn't even acknowledge me. I felt my face become red from embarrassment -- people were starting to whisper and nudge their lab partners to tell them I was trying to talk to Olivia.

Huffing, I leaned against the lab table and just sat there trying to get my nerve up to talk to her again. Knowing that everyone was staring, I decided to look pointedly at each one until they let up. I was tired of my life being a source of entertainment for bored teenagers who had nothing better to do than gossip.

Feeling a little bit more ballsy, I again tried to get her attention. "Olivia."

Olivia didn't so much as move.

"Olivia," I tried again, leaning down to try and see where exactly she was looking 'cause it wasn't at me.

"Just stop," she let out softly. She looked up at me with teary eyes. God, she shot me in the heart with that look. It killed me! "I don't want to talk about it here."

I looked down shamefully at the black table I was leaning against.

"God, I can't even believe you would try that!" She whispered heatedly at me.

My throat began to hurt. I tried swallowing the pain down, but that only inflamed it more.  
"I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to --"

"Sebastian!" I knew that voice. Of all the voices I didn't want to hear right now, it was his. I glared up at Malcolm, who had fancied his way on over here from his Stalker Perch. "Why don't you leave Olivia alo--"

"Malcolm, back off right now! I don't need you in my face!" I snapped at him with balled fists. He must've recognized those bad boys quickly and saw I wasn't goofing around like I normally do. I couldn't believe it myself.

Malcolm started to back away slowly. "Okay, I'm only doing this because I'm a lover, not a fighter." He cast a cheesy look over at Olivia as if he was being heroically charming or something. I nearly bent over and hurled all over his anally clean Lacoste shoes.

"Of course," I spat sarcastically.

The onlookers apparently couldn't believe how angry I was because they were very chatty after that. Hearing their whispers caused my ears to burn. I didn't say anything to them though, it wasn't worth the effort. It wouldn't be like they'd stop talking about me altogether once they left the class anyways.

Instead, I resorted to watching the clock's face. I watched as minutes slowly slid by. I couldn't wait to get out of this hell I was in and get out to the soccer field to forget all of this drama for at least a good two hours.

Finally, the moment I had been waiting for came and I heard the bell. Getting up hastily because of all the pent up anger and miscellaneous emotions running throughout my body, I packed up my things aggressively and got the heck out of there.

_How fucking humiliating._

--

A/N: I hope this was a chapter y'all enjoyed. Like usual, if you didn't like it, I'm all ears! I'd love to know points where you thought it ran flat, didn't make sense, or was just grammatically incorrect. I love to be corrected when it comes to my writing.

On the other hand, if you loved it or just liked it, please, please, please tell me! I can't emphasize that enough. It's an awesome thing to see when you check your email randomly throughout the day and see someone reviewed your story. It makes you smile and upon reading it, smile even bigger! You see how I'm using exclamation points?! It's exactly like that -- an exclamation point rampage of excitement!

Also, please tell me your thoughts on the chapter lengths. If they're too short, just right, or too long. That way I change for the better... and for your enjoyment!

Again, thank you so much for reading... Hopefully, you like how often I'm updating. It's about every three days or so, I think? So yeah!

Talk to y'all soon!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thanks for all of the amazing reviews, guys! All of them were awesome to read and I decided that since most of you said a longer chapter wouldn't hurt, I'd give you one.

It was initially going to be three "--"-s shorter, but I thought that if I added the last three, the next chapter, which I'm kind of really excited about, would be better. Hopefully, the soccer stuff isn't too boring for y'all.

So yeah... enjoy!

--

Sebastian bolted out of the classroom without so much glancing at me. I hadn't ever seen him so upset before. Hell, I had never seen him act so differently since knowing him. He was always so goofy and sweet, that seeing him act so rashly and aggressively towards anyone was a wake up call of how terrible this whole experience was for the both of us, not just me.

I felt badly for Sebastian. I knew that I had been a little harsh towards him, but I couldn't help myself. I was angry and scared and, well, hurt still. I guess that's what I saw on Sebastian today too. I heard a lot of people talking about him, saying he was stupid enough to miss out on the chance of sleeping with me. I forgot that guys were just as pressured to sleep with someone than girls were. I hadn't really thought about it until I overheard so many guys saying that about Sebastian. I felt for him even more than I did before -- he was getting it from all different directions.

Getting up from my seat, I followed the rest of the class out the door. Since I didn't have a last block, I didn't know what I should do to occupy my time. Knowing that this rain cloud of misery would follow me wherever I went, I wanted to get some closure.

_I should talk to Sebastian... I'll go over to his dorm later tonight._

Coming to this calm conclusion, I was just about to go over to my dorm when I saw Blaire Ravenport walk by me with a very determined look in her eyes. That look disconcerted me. I decided I ought to follow her instead of moping around my dorm in the dark like a depressed person until I got up the nerve to talk to Sebastian. This was much more productive, even if it was a little stalkerish.

Because I knew that dangerous look in Blaire's eyes, I predicted she'd be invading my turf. Following her from afar, I watched as Blaire walked down out to the practice soccer field to watch the varsity boys team practice for tomorrow's away game at Red Wall. Upon arriving there, she met up with her little pack of cackling friends who were just as into Sebastian as Blaire was. However, they wouldn't admit it because they didn't want to have to deal with the wrath of their ominous leader.

I sat beneath a tree with a large shade, hoping it would camouflage me somewhat and watched the team do all sorts of footwork drills and endurance activities. It was obvious the coach was preparing the team for a long withstanding game at Red Wall.

I found Sebastian apart of the endurance part -- he was running laps around the field with Toby next to him, keeping pace.

A shrill whistle announced that the team had a water break. I watched Sebastian get his share of water from one of the water bottles the manager handed out to the team. Sebastian looked like he was still angry -- brows were furrowed, eyes were squinted, and the corners of his mouth were tugged down to form a small frown.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a certain brunette girl get up from the stands and make her way closer to the field. I sat up a little straighter upon seeing this.

_That little whore!_

Like I expected, Blaire called out to Sebastian, who turned towards her and waved. She motioned for him to come over to her, which he did obediently. Jealousy started to veer its ugly head as I watched the scene without any dialogue.

_Why didn't I just let him talk to me in class?!_

I didn't have a complete meltdown. Instead, I decided to analyze the scene as it unfolded. I hoped that Sebastian wouldn't give off any comfortable signs around Blaire.

Sebastian walked over to her with shoulders slouched, as if he was being forced to go over to her. I smiled to myself knowing I didn't have to worry... yet.

Blaire, being the slut that she was, immediately touched Sebastian as soon as he reached the fence. She must've thought that contact was some sort of aphrodisiac, but she was way too touchy-feely for her own good. Sebastian didn't react very well to it because once she took her hand away, he took a small step backwards, making the space between them a little bit wider.

I felt like victory was at hand. But Blaire kept up her lost cause because she continued to chat with Sebastian, who kept looking over his shoulder as if willing coach to blow his whistle to recommence practice. Blaire must not have liked this because she started cock an attitude with him. Poor Sebastian. He was going to have to listen to her bitch at him for not being interested in her.

Not too soon thereafter, Coach Dinklage blew his whistle to get his team back onto the field for the practice to start back up. Silently, I thanked my lucky stars.

Watching Blaire try to make moves on Sebastian kind of woke me up out of my doldrums. Was I hurt that he would just split during a make-out? Yes. Was I upset that the entire school knew about it? Definitely. Was I questioning myself way too much? Oh yeah! But when it came down to it... I still had it bad for Sebastian, and it felt really good to see him not mesh well with the school's whore. Besides, he had tried to talk about it instead of avoiding the issue and pretending like it was my fault, like most guys tended to do when it came to their masculinity and track record.

I looked down at the field to see Sebastian practicing penalty kicks. He looked so poised and stoic as he lined up the ball and then took his two steps back and two steps to his left. He waited for the Coach's whistle before running up and kicking the ball with all his might and precision, sending the ball exactly where he planned for it to go: the back of the net. Sebastian smiled the biggest smile I had seen him give in four days. Gosh, I missed seeing his smile.

After seeing that smile, I decided that once soccer practice ended, I would try to talk with Sebastian. We both just needed to get everything out in the open. We both deserved it.

--

"Hastings!" my English coach shouted from across the field after I made my penalty kick. "Well done! Now move your Nancy bits over to the cones and work on your footwork."

I laughed for the first time in what felt like the longest time. It felt so good to laugh -- I could practically feel all of the pressure and weight from the anxiety of the past few days just lift off of my chest. I could always count on Coach Dinklage to make me feel a little bit better.

I did as I was told and hauled ass over to the cones and started to dribble my ball through the little obstacle course set up. I worked in Maradonas, Freeze Frames, and all sorts of tricks I was going to incorporate into the game tomorrow so I could work out all of the kinks. I nailed all of the marks and finished the course seamlessly and moved onto sprints where Assistant Coach Rutgers was monitoring.

"All right, Hastings. I want ten sprints out of you!" The assistant coach told me as I lined up at the line, getting ready for him to tell me to go. "Make them count. Go!"

I jumped off the line and sprinted all twenty yards to the opposite line, turned around, and made ready for Rutgers to tell me to go again.

Practice passed by rather smoothly after that. Even though, soccer did make me feel a lot better, I couldn't help but wish that Blaire and her friends would hit the road. They kept trying to get my attention throughout the practice that it made me have to focus even harder on what I was supposed to be doing. Coach Dinklage yelled at me a few times for having my head in 'Fairy Land'.

By the time the final whistle was blown, I was tired of having those girls around. Grabbing a towel from the manager, I wiped my face off of sweat and dirt. Walking towards the locker room, I saw Blaire was trying to intercept me. Rolling my eyes and taking a deep breath, I prepared myself.

"You looked," Blaire began as she linked arms with me, "amazing out there! I just wished you would've taken your shirt off!"

Feeling a tad bit annoyed, I cocked my jaw a bit and didn't respond. I actually think that by doing that I finally realized that Blaire liked her men that way: obedient, silent, and grateful to even be in her presence. She was unbearable!

She stopped me before I got too close to the locker room's entrance. "What do you say about hanging out tomorrow night?"

I wiped my face with the towel again just to buy me some time to come up with a good excuse and looked past Blaire's shoulder at nothing in particular -- I just didn't want to look at her. "I don't know. If we win, the guys are gonna want to celebrate and if we lose, I don't think I'd be the best company."

Blaire seemed put off by this answer. Crossing her arms defensively, she looked at me as if I was the lowest form of scum on the face of the world, "What? Is that your way of turning me down or something?"

"No! I'm just giving the honest truth. I don't want you to think that I'm going to be free when I most likely won't be." I replied back as evenly as I could make myself say it. I shrugged and then threw my towel over my shoulder. "If you can't handle that, then I don't think I'm the right person for you."

For some strange reason unbeknownst myself, Blaire seemed really turned on by that straightforward answer. Sliding up closer next to me, Blaire fiddled with the hem of my jersey. "Okay, okay. I get what you're saying. I'll call you after the game to see what you're up to, okay?"

I nodded just so she would get away from me, which she finally did after a few more seconds of acting like a idiotic sex kitten. Disgusted, I shook my head and wiped the remaining sweat on my face off with my towel and headed into the locker room.

When I entered the steam-filled room, Andrew gave me a nod. "Blaire's been hounding you, dude!"

I grimaced and slouched down on to the wooden bench, "Don't remind me!"

"I knew her ex-boyfriend," Toby chimed in with a towel wrapped around his waist as he lightly threw his muddy cleats into his locker. "She pulled a Naomi Campbell on his ass and threw her cell at his head when he broke up with her."

"Great, I've got a phone-thrower bent on dating me," I let out with a sigh. "I bet her celebrity crush is Russell Crowe."

A few of the guys heading towards the showers laughed at that. I just smiled weakly at the thought and waited for the right time to sneak out of the locker room without anyone noticing I didn't shower.

I got the perfect opportunity when Duke decided to give Nelson, a sophomore who was a benchwarmer, a titty twister. Grabbing my bag, I ducked out of the smelly locker room undetected.

I walked out to find the sun waving its goodbye to Illyria. A cool breeze came by and tickle my neck. I looked down at my cleats to see that my right shoe string came undone. Bending down, I tied it quickly. Upon getting up, I saw the last person I had expected to meet me in a thousand years: Olivia Lennox.

She was standing with the sun to her back, which caused her to have an amber glow about her. She was gorgeous in that moment.

"Olivia," I said in a shocked sort of way.

She smiled an unsure smile and pushed the few blonde strands in her face behind her ear. "Hi," Olivia replied softly.

Way past confused by this bombshell sent my way and a little hopeful of what it meant, I couldn't help but smile a goofy smile. "Um," I started, feeling my face redden, "you wanna talk?"

Olivia nodded and met my eyes. Her blue eyes were the softest I had seen them all day. They weren't as harsh or angry as they were earlier. "Yeah," she answered, "I think that would be good."

Playing with my bag's strap nervously, I led the way over to the team bench and took a seat. Olivia mirrored my actions, except she anxiously played with the hem of her school blouse.

Neither of us said anything right away, and when something did come to mind, we both started at the exact same moment. Laughing at how dorky and awkward we were acting, we both told the other to go.

Turning towards her, I decided that I would just take the bull by its horns. "I, ugh, wanted to say sorry about this whole thing... I," I laughed at how ridiculous this overly dramatic situation was, "never meant for this to blow up like it did. I didn't know we were so gossip worthy."

I looked over at Olivia and found that she was sneaking a glance at me, which caused both of us to avert our looks and blush profusely. Feeling like a seventh grader who was dealing with a serious case of the jitters around the person they liked -- I shook myself from that thought... I was not 'in like' with Olivia -- I looked at everything but her. "I want to tell you the real reason why I bailed. I think you deserve it."

Turning back to Olivia, I saw that she was kind of taken back that I was actually going to tell her why I was a son of a bitch. Smiling meekly and then looking down at the strap I was still playing with, I began my confession. "When I came to Illyria, I was only concerned about playing soccer and making the team. I didn't really plan on," I paused to try and find the right word for what we were, but realized there wasn't one, "this."

Olivia was paying close attention to everything I was saying and doing, much like I would be doing in the situation if the tables were turned. Continuing, I placed my eyes back onto the strap in my hands. "So when you kissed me, I finally realized that there was a world outside of the soccer pitch." I couldn't help but laugh because it was completely dorky to say. "And even though kissing you was... amazing, I started to freak out because I was scared and overwhelmed and... I don't know. But all I do know is that because I was scared we're here right now talking about it and dealing with it."

Olivia didn't say anything. I didn't really expect her to, but the longer she was quiet, the more foreboding the scene became to me. Right when I was about to give up on ever having Olivia talk to me again, she slid her hand on top of mine. Her hand was so smooth. I smiled down at it for a good measure before looking up at her. Olivia's blue eyes were so comforting and happy. They were practically dancing.

"I'm glad you told me that," Olivia said with a content smile plastered on her face. "It means a lot."

Smiling in turn, I squeezed her hand. "I'm just glad you let me apologize and explain to you what was going on in my head."

Olivia didn't say anything. She just looked adoringly at me, which reminded me that Olivia was in love with 'Sebastian', not me. Shaking myself slightly from all of the elation I was feeling. I said, "So we're good? Friends?" Knowing that I was putting a label on our relationship, which would tell Olivia where we stood in my mind.

Her blue eyes that were dancing happily just moments before, dimmed drastically at hearing the word 'friends' slide out of my mouth. Seeing that happen killed me. I wish she knew the whole truth, that I was, in fact, Viola... and not the boy she thought she was falling for. I made him up and she was falling for him. I just wanted to add a buffer there, so then she wouldn't get anymore hurt.

She nodded sadly and then forced a smile before answering, "Yeah, we're friends again."

--

"He called you guys 'friends'?" Maria asked with a lot of disbelief in her voice. "Did he have a brain aneurysm or something? Or is he in complete denial about making-out with you?"

Staring up at our dorm's ceiling, I just sighed. My best friend did have a good point, but at the same time, Sebastian did admit that he was scared and that soccer was his priority. "I think he just wants to be friends."

"Yeah right!" Maria sarcastically said as she shut her laptop loudly. "If he just wanted to be friends, then he would've told you that as soon as you kissed him."

"He didn't kiss me right away, though," I told her. Actually, thinking back on the kiss, I had to practically force myself on him before Sebastian even kissed me back. And when he did... God, was it amazing.

Maria shook her head. "But he got into it after awhile. Liv, you can't honestly tell me that you believe he just wants to be friends."

I covered my face with my hands and then looked back up at the ceiling. My brain was muddled with all sorts of emotions and theories and calculations. "I have no idea. I swear, when I feel like he's not the least bit interested in me, he gives me this look that I've been dying for. And then," I turned over to look at Maria, "when I think he feels the same way too, a split second later, he acts purely platonic."

"He's a fickle one," Maria plainly said. I could tell that she didn't approve of the way he acted with me -- sending me all of these mixed signals.

"Yeah," I admitted, "he is."

A comfortable silence passed after I agreed with her. Maria was obviously thinking deeply about Sebastian and I was as well.

"Are you going to the game tomorrow then or are you going to skip out on it?"

I closed my eyes. If I went to game, I would be a supportive friend for Sebastian... but at the same time, I would be completely hung up on him. On the other hand, if I didn't go, then that would definitely clue Sebastian in on how I wanted to be more than friends, and that would just be embarrassing. Opening my eyes, I finally said, "I'm gonna go."

"Then I'll go too, but only for moral support."

--

The school day passed by with relative ease. Everyone must've heard from an onlooker that Olivia and I chatted about the library make-out and seemed to be back on good terms. The onlooker must've even overheard our conversation because they made sure to define us as only friends. For some strange reason, having a category to fit our relationship into sent hormones into overdrive.

Girls who I had never seen before said 'hi' to me in the halls or gave me a nod. While I got a lot of attention, Olivia did too. Many guys offered to be her date to the game while pricks offered to be her plaything. I felt bad for Olivia -- boys could be jerks sometimes. I actually felt like giving a few of those guys a nice kick to the family jewels, but I kept my cool.

All in all, I had no idea that so many people would go into a frenzy over Olivia and I.

By the time the team was getting onto the bus to head over to Red Wall, hoards of people were flipping out. I guess the drama that surrounded me made the soccer team's popularity sky rocket even more, which I thought would be nearly impossible.

As I took a seat next to the window, I saw Olivia and Maria outside near the back of the crowd. I had no clue that she was going to be at the game, and thought of her actually being there sent butterflies fluttering in my stomach.

_Gosh, get your head out of your ass. It's game time. Think about winning, think about scoring, and most importantly, think about annihilating them._

Before I knew it, the bus was in drive and out of Illyria's parking lot. I looked back towards the rear of the bus and saw people running to their cars and chasing after us. Smiling to myself, I knew that this was going to be a really rowdy game.

--

Maria and I took our seats in the Red Wall away team stands right when our team came walking out of the away team locker room. I saw Sebastian right behind Duke, who was wearing the captain's arm band, and talking to Sebastian, most likely about strategy. I couldn't help but think that Sebastian looked handsome in his uniform. I felt my heart begin to speed up. Smiling to myself, I knew that I was right where I needed to be.

The Illyria crowd started to cheer our team on through all sorts of mediums: beating on cowbells, chanting, shrieking, waving banners or flags with the Illyria crest on them, and the like. A few guys even sported the chill of an early spring night by taking their shirts off and revealing the letters that spelled out Illyria on their chests.

Most of the girls in the stands weren't huge soccer fans. The main reason most of them were there because they wanted to drool over their crushes on the team. Quin, a pretty dirty blonde who was sitting on the other side of Maria, had the biggest crush on Duke. A few rows up, I could hear other girls loudly chatting about how hot Sebastian. I felt territorial for a moment before I realized that most of the girls saying such things didn't even know him, so they weren't worth getting riled up over.

A few seconds later, the Red Wall team came out of their locker room on the opposite side of the field. Their stands erupted into a deafening cheer that rivaled our own. Our school felt like we needed to get amped up some more, so some started up a chant everyone could participate in.

"Il-ly-ri-a!"

The battle of the chants commenced until the first strings of both teams jogged out onto the field to their respective sides and positions. Sebastian and Duke jogged out to the forward positions and nodded to each other as they both walked up to the ball waiting for them in the middle of the field. We must've won the coin toss because we were going to kick off the first half.

The referees jogged out on to the field much like players had before them and nodded of at each other to say that they were ready. The crowds started to wildly cheer again. Finally the shrill whistle we all had been anticipating came and Sebastian tapped the ball forward for Duke to kick back to Devon Toyia, a half-back, who then steadied the ball and waited for Duke and Sebastian to run up the field. A forward on the Red Wall team darted at Devon, who just flicked the ball to the right and sent a powerful kick up the sideline to Sebastian who made it just in time to receive the pass.

The defense on the Red Wall team outweighed the Illyrian forwards 4:2, which meant the Red Wall team was going to play the same exact lineup as Illyria. Sebastian made all sorts of cuts and lunges to get past the first defender, but when he sent the ball over to Duke, the line ref blew his whistle and raised his flag.

"Aw, dammit, Duke!" I heard a boy behind me shout. "What the hell was he thinking being offsides during the FIRST attack?! He wasted such a nice pass from Sebastian! He better not do that again or else this will be one long game."

It was like the boy was a prophet or something because when he finished saying that the game became a stalemate quickly.

--

The locker room was tensely quiet. We all knew that a long hard talking to was heading our way. Most of the team was playing like shit.

Coach Dinklage walked into the locker room with a grimace on his face. He stood in front of the team and just stared at us for what seemed like the longest time. Finally, he decided to end his death glares, and actually talk to us.

"In all of my coaching career, I've never been so frustrated with a team." He didn't yell, he didn't shout... he didn't even say that with a bite to it. He just said it like a tired man.

I saw many of the guys hang their heads shamefully. I rested my head against the locker and looked up at the ceiling. If we played like this against Cornwall, we would definitely lose and my cause would've been for nothing.

"I don't know what you all are playing out there, but it sure isn't soccer. The only person out there who seems to want to win this game is Hastings!" Coach Dinklage was starting to show his anger. "He can't win the game alone! So how about the rest of you who are playing poorly, wake up!"

Coach Dinklage realized that most of the team was just as worn out and ashamed of their playing as he was, and called down. "Now I know you all can play better than that, and thank goodness it's still zero-zero or else we'd have to make up a lot of ground. So when we go back out there, I want to see the star athletes I know you all are."

People started to raise their eyes a bit. Coach continued, "Now rest up, rehydrate, and stretch. I want to see some good soccer out there!"

And at that, Coach Dinklage walked back outside, most likely to talk to Assistant Coach Rutgers about what angle they should approach this next half.

The team followed the Coach's orders. I drank a bit more water before I got up and started to stretch a bit. Duke stayed rooted to his seat with a game face like I had never seen come over his face before. I could see that he was angry with himself for playing like he had and wanted to redeemed himself.

If anyone had the most pressure on their shoulders, it was Duke. He was the captain, so he felt like he needed to be on his A-game every time he set foot on the field because the team would look to him for motivation. He was the team's heart. I felt sorry for him. I knew he was beating himself up.

Five minutes later, Dinklage came back into the locker room and told us to get back on the field and kick some Red Wall ass. The team, who seemed to have had a complete 180 in emotions within that short time period, rowdily did as such.

Jogging back out on the field, I couldn't help but feel ten times better than I did at the start of the game. Everyone was on their toes whereas earlier they seemed very flatfooted. Looking over at Duke on the other side of our side's semi-circle, he looked like he was ready run through a wall.

We were now uncaged.

_This is gonna be fun!_

--

A/N: I hope you guys liked this chapter... If not... you know the drill. If so, send some love my way!

I'm tired, so I'm going to go hit the sack earlier than normal... Sorry for the short note!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I'm updating two days in advance because I'm really excited about this chapter... I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did writing it!

I must warn you though, it's a shorter chapter than last night's...

And thank you so much for the quick reviews! I love hearing your thoughts -- some of them really made me smile so big while some gave me some good input for certain aspects that let's me know what y'all (the readers) want. So thank you! I will listen and always take everything you all tell me into consideration.

--

(Olivia Lennox)

While on our way back from the game, Maria and I received several texts about a impromptu party for the soccer team to celebrate the 5-0 victory over Red Wall. Seeing as we didn't have any classes the next day since it was Ash Wednesday -- most of Illyria was Italian and Irish, and sure knew how to drink to prove it -- we thought it would be fun to go.

There were several reported places that were going to host the many parties that were springing up, but the party I was interested in going to was the one at Holden Masterson's family lake house. Holden was the goalkeeper of the Illyria soccer team, so we knew that most of the team would be obligated to show up there, which meant Sebastian was probably going to make an appearance. I wanted to see him and congratulate him on his performance in person rather than through texting or a phone call.

He played a stellar game. I was so happy for him! He scored three of the five goals for Illyria and assisted in the other two. So many people were flipping out over his game, and it seemed like even more girls fell in love with him in the process. But I tried to not let that bother me... Unlike them, I actually knew how it felt to be pressed up against a wall by him and kissed.

_Did I just think that?_ I asked myself blushing.

Smiling to myself about how terrible it was to think that, I was at the same time very pleased.

By the time Maria turned down the gravel lane that led to Holden's lake house, the sun was already hidden behind the tall mountains that surrounded Illyria. As we got closer to the lake house, we saw that there were many cars already there and the house was brightly lit. Because of the multitude of cars, Maria had to park about a quarter of a mile away from the Masterson house.

"Do you think the team beat us here?" Maria asked as she got out of her car.

Closing my car door and then checking myself in the side mirror, I answered. "Looks that way." I looked cute in my Illyria attire -- I knew guys loved seeing chicks in their team's colors and wear... I hoped Sebastian would like it; that, and I didn't think to bring a change of clothes.

I was nervous, to say the least. I wanted to see Sebastian and see his smile and his beautiful eyes. I wanted to congratulate him... And I wanted to look good doing it. I wanted him to question the 'just friends' label he had placed on us. I wanted him to want me as much as I wanted him.

"Olivia!" Maria snapped at me, shaking me from my reverie. "Stop staring at yourself in the mirror. I want to get inside before I die of hypothermia."

Laughing at my friend's hyperbole, I rounded the car and began to walk up to the raucous house with her. "Do you think Sebastian's here?"

Maria rolled her eyes and smiled a sardonic smile.

--

(Viola Hastings as Sebastian Hastings)

"To Sebastian!" The crowd of already tipsy and wild teenagers shouted as they raised their plastic cups at Sebastian and then guzzled them before cheering loudly.

I felt the tips of my ears burn as I looked down at the ground, feeling a little uncomfortable from all the attention. After all, I wasn't the only one on the field playing for Illyria today.

Duke wrapped his arm around my neck and then patted my back. "You were so on tonight! Man, you were like... freaking Superman out there!"

"Superman?" I repeated amusedly. Duke was downing his third cup of craptastic beer when he said that. "Nah, Duke. I think I was in the right place at the right time. You were too. After all, you scored two goals yourself."

Duke smiled a big smile. He was happy to be recognized for his job well done out there as well. "Ahh! You're such a good buddy, y'know that? You are!"

I never saw Duke buzzed, but I was glad to see it. He was always so serious or too cautious. It was fun to see him let loose a bit. "Oh snap!" I heard Duke saying, looking past me.

"What?" I asked, taking a quick sip of my Mountain Dew. I didn't like the taste of beer -- girly, right?

Duke smiled down at me mischievously, "Olivia's here."

Snapping my head around to look at the door, I saw Olivia enter through the front door with Maria behind her. She looked... _hot_ decked out in her Illyria spirit wear. Her cheeks were a little rosy from the cold and exertion from walking a while. I felt my stomach do a few flips before I realized I was staring a little too long for my own good.

_Dammit Viola, think! Don't act like an idiot._

I turned back around before Olivia could catch me staring at her and downed my Mountain Dew. I was nervous. Yep. Duke noticed this and thought teasing me would be the best antidote for it.

"Shut up, Duke! I do not like Olivia like that!" I whispered lowly to him with an earnest look. I looked all around me, trying to make sure no one was hearing our conversation. I didn't want them gossiping about Olivia and I anymore.

Duke laughed obnoxiously, grabbed my shoulder and shook me. "You're in total denial, dude!"

I felt heat radiating off of my face and rolled my eyes.

_Great, perfect time to blush!_

"This is perfect, she's coming right over here," Duke whispered happily down to me. Next thing I knew, Duke spun me around and shoved me directly into Olivia.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry!" I apologized quickly as I steadied both Olivia and myself.

"No, I'm sorry," Olivia whispered just as speedily.

"Nah, it was my fault -- wasn't watching where I was going." I gave Duke an accusatory look.

I looked back over and met Olivia's gaze. There was a breathlessness about her that was completely alluring. I couldn't help but gulp.

_I did not just gulp. Oh god, I just gulped!_

Realizing I was staring again, I looked up at the ceiling and then back down at Olivia. I saw her cheeks becoming a little bit more rosy and felt mine follow suit. Berating myself for my dorkiness, I took a small step back to put some inches of space in between us.

"Um, glad you could make it!" I said through a small smile playing across my lips.

Olivia seemed to be in a daze for a minute before she shook her head and closed her eyes. When she opened, she said, "Yeah, well, didn't want to miss out on the chance to hang out with the team."

Hearing that she wasn't here just for me kind of made me disappointed. Trying to cover that up, I nodded in agreement. "Cool, me too!"

I raised my eyebrows at how completely stupid I sounded and then looked down at my empty plastic cup in my hand.

"I'm gonna go get a refill. Do you want one? Maria?" I raised my empty cup up for Maria to see, she had been standing a few feet away from Olivia, giving us some space.

She shook her head while she crossed her arms. Maria definitely wasn't one my biggest fans. I looked back at Olivia, ready for her answer.

At that moment, music began to blare. The symbol clashing was so loud, I could feel my ribcage bounce to the beat of "So Says I" by the Shins.

Olivia had to break the space I created only moments before to shout in my ear. Her breath tickled my ear and neck, causing a chill to run down my spine while she rested her hands on my waist to steady herself. "I'll have whatever you're having."

She started to back away, but I had to stop her by putting my hand on the small of her back to keep her from retreating. Olivia kind of stiffened at my touch, but then relaxed when she noticed I was going to tell her something. "Are you sure? I'm having Mountain Dew."

Her hair smelled really nice. It made my heart beat a little harder against my already vibrating ribcage. Olivia's face brushed mine a bit before answering that it was cool.

Nodding, I detached myself from her and held up a finger, telling her I'd be back in a minute with our drinks.

As I walked away, Duke gave me this smirk as if saying, 'Just friends, huh?' I shot him back a snide smirk and walked into the kitchen.

People surrounded the island that held all of the beverages, minus the keg, which was on the other side of the kitchen. I zoned directly in on the Mountain Dew, squeezed through group of gabbing girls and began to pour our drinks. While doing so "Soul Meets Body" by Death Cab for Cutie started to loft throughout the house, which made me smile. I was glad Holden was playing music I actually liked instead of raunchy rap songs parties normally played. I actually hoped that instead of "Soul Meets Body" it would've been "Photobooth".

"What the hell, Holden? What is this shit?!" I heard a brutish wrestler in his letterman shout over to Holden, who was leaning against the counter talking to some blonde.

Holden laughed at the guy's remark. "Quality music, and if you don't like it, you can get the fuck out! My house, my booze, my music. See?" And at that, Holden gulped down his drink and slammed the cup against the counter.

The wrestler didn't know Holden would react so defensively to his statement so all he did was say, "Yeah."

Holden shook his head as if saying he couldn't believe people would come into his home and disrespect his music. He saw me looking over at him and I nodded back laughing.

"You got any requests?" Holden shouted over to me with a welcoming smile.

"You and I like the same stuff, so I'm cool with whatever comes on."

Two minutes later, I was handing Olivia her drink.

"Thanks," she shouted as she took hold of her cup. "I'm so thirsty!"

I began to sip on mine and looked around the living room, seeing all who came. It was everyone I would expect to show up. The cheerleaders, the jocks, the popular, and the rich were all in attendance. Bringing my drink away from my face, I smiled down at Olivia. She looked as happy as I'd seen her in five days.

"You wanna go somewhere quieter?" She yelled up at me and then pointed to hall that must've led to a different side of the house.

Seeing that it was hard to make conversation in this room since the sound system made its home here, I thought it wouldn't hurt to move. "Yeah, sounds good."

Olivia smiled and then led the way over to the mysterious hall. As I walked over there, a few guys nodded at me and gave me high-fives, congratulating me on the win. Walking into the hall, the music echoed and bounced off the walls. There were a few rooms that were occupied by couples making out or playing games with other couples that we walked past before coming across a room that overlooked the lake.

"This room good?" Olivia asked as she peered in and looked up at me expectantly.

Nodding, "Yeah, looks good to me."

Letting her go in first, I flicked the lights on. The room was a library/den that Holden's dad must've used as an office when the stayed up here during the summer or something. I saw a comfy brown leather couch and made a beeline over to it.

Slouching down on to, I let out a sigh of comfort, "I'm so beat."

Olivia laughed as she walked over and took a seat next to me. "I bet, you were everywhere during that game."

"Ugh, I'm gonna feel it tomorrow, I'm sure," I groaned at the thought as I rested my head against the back of the couch.

"Eyes" by Rogue Wave lofted into the room, causing me to smile to myself. It was one of my favorite songs. Olivia must've saw my smile 'cause she let out a giggle.

"What you smiling about?"

I looked over at her shyly. "I love this song!" I confessed as I looked back down at my hem that I was playing with absentmindedly.

"Really? I thought you would like Lil Wayne or something."

I scrunched my nose, "Um, no! I actually take my music very seriously, thank you." I cast her goofy look. "I can't believe you thought I liked music like that!"

"Hey now," she poked me in my ribs playfully. "I happen to like Lil Wayne."

"So you admit to having a horrible taste in music, then?" I quipped while deflecting more pokes.

"You're such an elitist, it's tragic!" Olivia joked as she continued to make her attempts at poking me.

I grabbed her hands and held them so she couldn't sneak any pokes while I was making my musical snobbery plain. "Tragic? More like heroic! I should get a medal or something!"

"Oh please!" Olivia threw back, laughing at our little battle of the jests.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to kiss her right then and there. Olivia must've sensed my change of demeanor because she slowly stopped laughing and just smiled this small smile that made all of the 'no'-s and 'remember you're Viola, not Sebastian'-s just get shoved to the back of my mind without a second thought.

I slowly leaned over to Olivia. I was going to do it -- I was going to kiss Olivia Lennox and this time I wasn't going to run away from being overwhelmed and confused. I was going to kiss her like she deserved to be kiss.

Leisurely, I pushed her hair that had fallen in her face behind her right ear and cupped her face. Her eyes were so bright and shining... and dare I say, expectant? I could feel her breath tickle my nose and I wondered if mine was doing the same to hers. The next thing I would know would be what her lips felt against mine when I initiated a kiss... But before I could know that, my senses were jolted awake by a curdled scream.

"YAHTZEE!" Someone shouted from the room next to us.

Reality came crashing down on me.

--

(Olivia Lennox)

His green eyes lost their intensity when that asshole, whoever he was, shrieked "Yahtzee" like an elderly woman drunk off her ass. I swear, I will make his life a living hell if I ever find out who he is because he totally ruined what seemed like a potential kiss _from_ Sebastian.

Turning over in my bed to face the wall, I thought about what could've happened. There were endless amounts of possibilities. Sebastian could've professed his undying love for me. He could've told me that he had to have me right then and there or he was going to go mad. He could've just as easily kissed me without saying or word. He could've even given me the make-out I'd been dreaming about... Who knows because whatever would've happened didn't because of that moron!

Groaning, I hugged my blanket. Why did I always get the short stick with Sebastian? If it wasn't all the mixed signals, it was him not saying what was on his mind or acting on what was on his mind.

"Boys," I hissed out loud.

"Liv!" Maria whispered exasperatedly. She had been trying to fall asleep for the longest time, but since I was so restless, she never was able to relax.

"Sorry! I'm trying, I promise, I am."

Maria mumbled something I couldn't make out.

I have never been pulled along like this with a guy before. They were either the ones who did the chasing or whenever I told them that I liked them, I'd get the response I wanted -- that they liked me too! So why was Sebastian Hastings so difficult?! Never in all of my short years on this green earth have I been so into a guy before... and I couldn't help but ask if it was because I was doing the chasing?

Huffing defeatedly to myself, I roughly nuzzled my head into my pillow. The idea put me off a bit. It wasn't the chase. I knew that much, but past that, I didn't know much. All I really did know was that I had it bad for Sebastian and he was all over the place.

Rolling onto my back, I stared up at the ceiling for what seemed like the hundredth time since my head hit the pillow. I knew I was going to get zero hours of sleep. I just knew it because Sebastian couldn't play by the rules. What rules? I didn't know, but I knew that whatever he was doing, he definitely wasn't playing by the rules. And if he wasn't going to play the rules... I wasn't going to either.

"Maria," I whispered over to my friend knowing full well she wasn't asleep yet.

I heard her growl into her pillow before answering me. "What?"

"What would you say if I tried to make Sebastian jealous?"

Maria didn't answer right away. "I'd say it's about damn time!"

--

A/N: Dun. Dun! DUN!! Sorry, melodramatic... I had to say it.

Anyways, I think you all will like this chapter more than the last one. More O/V interaction... more angst... more URST. So yeah... Please send me your thoughts: good, bad, or askdjfs. Don't make me beg more than that!! You know us writing types, we love to have our egos rubbed and our hearts broken.

Also, sorry about forgetting to specify who's POV it was last chapter. I think I was on autopilot last night... I was pretty much a zombie, I was so tired! So sorry about that.

And... I have to say that there will be more soccer in future chapters. I think soccer played a very integral part of the story, so I must keep it in. I'm sure you all know I won't overbear you with it... So don't worry!

All right, I love you guys and hope you all have wonderful days until the next update!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Thank you so much for your support and for your opinions. I can't express how informative they are with what y'all want, expect, or foresee. Sometimes you guys are right... sometimes not so much, which, as the writer, makes me excited.

This chapter contains Paul. I remember when I wrote this chapter about two weeks or so ago, I realized that I had zero Kia, Yvonne, and Paul in the story... So I thought I needed to correct that. But don't worry, the friendships between Viola/"Sebastian" and Duke, Toby, and Andrew won't change. I'm not going to cram Cornwall friends down your throats out of the blue. But they'll make appearances in upcoming chapters.

Also... If you find this story predictable. I'm truly sorry. I'll try to find an ace up my sleeve you won't expect. Most of the chapters I post, I wrote them weeks in advance or a few days before. It just depends on when the creativity juices are flowing for me. So yeah, when I write something, I write it and don't go back to it until it's time to post that particular chapter. So, I promise to be more... of a maverick.

With that being said, I hope you like this chapter.

--

(Viola Hastings as Sebastian Hastings)

Right at the stroke of noon, I walked into Cesario's looking for Duke, Toby, and Andrew. They were in their usual spot, chatting it up.

Nodding at Duke, he slid over towards the window, giving me my seat. "Hey kids," I greeted as I took my seat.

Toby and Andrew bumped fists with me.

Duke nudged me with his elbow. "A pitcher of Dr. Pepper and an extra-large pepperoni pie okay with you?"

"Yep, sounds good to me!"

"Good," Duke said with a smirk on his face, which piqued my interests, especially when he looked at Toby and Andrew.

Looking back and forth between my friends, I couldn't help but give into their weirdness. "What?"

"We hear that you and Olivia got some alone time last night at Holden's," Toby said, leaning against the table. Andrew started to laugh and Duke just smiled like an idiot.

I slouched a bit into the booth. "We talked, that's it."

"Uh-huh," Andrew snorted out.

"What did you guys hear anyway?"

"Nothing, only that you two disappeared and didn't come back for awhile, and when you did come back, both of you were acting weird." Duke teased while both Toby and Andrew were trying their damnedest not to make a scene by laughing.

I shrugged. "Well, all we did was talk."

Luckily, the waitress came around before they could insinuate any more. "What are y'all having?"

Duke sat up a bit straighter and leaned towards her. "A pitcher of Dr. Pepper and an extra-large pepperoni pizza, please."

"Okay," the waitress replied as she scribbled down the simple order quickly. "I'll get the Dr. Pepper for you right away." Then the waitress disappeared to do her obligations.

That's when I saw Olivia walk into Cesario's. Instantly, I was happier. She definitely had an affect on me. I couldn't help but give her an up and down look. I had to hand it to her, she looked great in skinny jeans. I wondered if she was meeting Maria or one of her other friends up here.

"Hey guys, Olivia's here," Duke whispered hurriedly over to Toby and Andrew, who snapped their heads around quickly and then looked at me a millisecond later to see how I was reacting.

I crossed my arms over the table and bowed my head a bit, trying to hide the smile that had slipped onto my face. When I looked back up at Olivia, that smile was wiped off of my face.

I saw this swimmer type standing next her. He had his arm wrapped around her waist. I hadn't seen this guy around the school, so I guessed he must've been from Westlake College, a university just fifteen minutes away from Illyria.

If I had seen him on the streets before seeing him with Olivia, I probably would've given him more credit on looks (he was a tall brunette with hair that reminded me of Kevin Zegers') and style (he was wearing a simple white V-neck that showed off his build and a pair of worn jeans). But that wasn't the case, I only saw him as a threat.

"Oh snap!" I heard Andrew mumble. He must've realized what I had just a few seconds before. Olivia wasn't here to meet up with friends -- she was there on a date.

Duke gave my a pat on the back and said something to the effect that 'it happens to the best of us'. I tore my eyes away from the two and looked down at my spoon. I felt like if looks could kill, my spoon would've felt my wrath.

Duke nudged me a little, "She's coming over."

_Why couldn't she just sit the down?_

"Hey guys," Olivia greeted merrily.

It took all of the will within me to look up from my spoon to Olivia and her dolphin boy. But when I did, I forced a cheesy smile on my face. "Hi Olivia!" I could feel Toby, Andrew, and Duke all give me worried looks. They knew this could turn ugly in a matter of seconds if they didn't try to buffer the situation a bit.

"Hey Olivia," they all cried at the same time. Looking at each warningly, they finally silently agreed on Toby to do the talking.

Olivia smiled an awkward smile and then looked down at me as she leaned into her little college boy toy. "Sebastian, I want you to meet," she gushed up Mr. Swimmer, "Gabe."

_Gabe, what a douche._

Gabe nodded his head at me, but didn't say anything. I gave him a nod back after a few pregnant seconds afterwards. I wanted to make it clear what I thought of him without having to plainly say it.

"So! Olivia," Toby started as he knocked his empty cup over, "on a date?"

Olivia smiled a big smile and nodded her head contentedly. "Yeah, Gabe thought it would be fun to come to one of my favorite hangouts for our first date, so then he could get an idea of where to go on our next one." She hugged him while his hand started to head a little too far south for my liking.

I began to grip my spoon angrily at seeing his hand cross a dangerous line and at realizing that she planned on going on more dates with this Gabe. Duke saw my white knuckles and kicked my ankle.

Yelping, I breathlessly said, "Sweet Jesus!"

Everyone around the table looked at me, including Gabe and Olivia, which made me want to vomit.

"Well," Olivia said as he unhinged herself from Gabe's side, "I guess we better get a table. See you guys later!" She looked completely pleased with herself and Gabe looked like he couldn't wait to get her in the back seat of his car. Just the thought of his greasy hands on her made me want to punch something.

"Dude, would you chill?!" Duke said, ripping the spoon out of my hand. I had bent the head of the spoon backwards and then some. My hand hurt a little from doing so, but I couldn't have cared less.

I eyed Olivia and her date while they walked side by side and hand in hand back to their table. Rolling my eyes and making a disgusted sound, I threw myself backwards into the booth's back. "What does she see in that guy anyway?"

"I don't know!"

"He's ugly, bra!"

"He's no Sebastian Hastings, that's all I have to say!"

They all were just trying to make me feel better. They were being good friends.

Finally the waitress brought over our Dr. Pepper. I was glad to have it too -- there's nothing like emotionally eating and drinking. For the rest of our lunch, our group stayed relatively quiet. I scarfed down my food as quickly as humanly possible, got up, shelled out a few bucks, told the boys I'd catch up with them later, and then busted out of there at the speed of light.

--

(Olivia Lennox)

I felt terrible for using Gabe as shamelessly as I was. I knew he actually liked me... and not just because of my looks either. He had known me since we were kids, so I did realize I was playing with a dangerous fire here. But when I asked him to do this for me, I made sure he knew it was acting -- we weren't going on a date. I could tell by the tone in his voice that he was disappointed. Gabe told me back when he was a senior and when I was a sophomore that he had liked me since those childhood days, he just didn't have the guts to ask me out until the prospect of never having the chance to again dawned on him. I thought he was sweet about it and all, but he was like a brother to me... nothing more. So I had to turn him down.

Gabe was perfect for this 'love is war' game though. He was good, no, great looking, had an allure about him that made everyone's eyes be drawn to him, and had a mild-manner about him. It was as if he was made to threaten other men's turf just by existing.

"He's leaving," Gabe whispered over to me as he leaned in over the table, making it look like he was telling me something intimate.

With all of my might, I had to keep myself from looking over at Sebastian. Instead, I mirrored Gabe's actions. "Alone or with his friends?"

Giving me this mischievous smile, Gabe answered, "Alone." I had to hand it to him, he was good at this.

"How does he look? Does he look sad or mad? Has he looked over at us? How do I look?" I asked with excitement creeping into my voice. I couldn't help it. I hoped that my game had played out exactly how I wanted it to. I wanted to know that Sebastian was jealous. I wanted him to reevaluate our relationship.

Gabe laughed and lowered his eyes bashfully. Oh, he was really good at this! "He looked pissed. He did look over here, but only for a brief second. And you look," Gabe paused, bringing his eyes to look into mine, "amazing."

_Fire. Fire! FIRE! _My brain shouted.

I wondered why I couldn't just see Gabe like I saw Sebastian. He would've made the perfect boyfriend. He knew what I liked, what I hated, what I loved, what I couldn't get enough of. He knew some of my most embarrassing secrets, and he never told them to a single soul. Gabe understood why I was so stubborn and why I was so earnest. He even knew why I was the way I was when I couldn't even tell you.

_Stupid me. I always make my life more difficult in some way or another. If it wasn't through taking on way too many tasks, it was through relationships._

"Thanks for doing this again," I began lowly. "It means a lot."

"Don't mention it," he replied back. "Let's just hope he sees what he's missing out on," Gabe said in such a heartbreaking way. I knew that it wasn't because he was jealous or found the situation ironic. It was because he would kill to have me go to all of this trouble to get him to notice me.

_Nice one, Olivia. You're so freaking selfish that you didn't even think how this might hurt him. _

"So, ugh," Gabe started as he absentmindedly played with his straw, "you want to get out of here? I can drive you back to your dorm."

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea."

--

(Viola Hastings as Viola Hastings)

"Viola," Paul said as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "What exactly have you been doing at Illyria?"

Slumping onto my very own bed, I didn't look at him. "Oh, how about acting like this amazingly sweet boy who can't help but be honest, which unintentionally makes girls fall in love with me, except they have no clue I'm a girl dressed up like her twin brother."

I heard Paul laugh, which caused some anger to flare up in me. "What could possibly be funny about that?"

"Oh, I don't know," Paul sardonically replied. "I think all of it is quite humorous, especially the part about girls falling for you."

"This is serious, Paul!" I groaned, shoving my pillow in my face.

"Well, I heard that our little 'Sebastian Hastings' was quite the flirt, though."

I practically threw the pillow off of my face and looked at my friend. "Who told you that?"

"No one. Just word on the street is all," he said with a shrug as he sat down and looked at his manicured nails.

"So you know about the library make-out with Olivia, then?" I asked embarrassedly.

Paul's eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly.

_Nope._

"You made out with Olivia?! When? Do tell!" Paul excitedly answered. The smell of gossip and juicy truths in the air always seemed to wake him up like a cup of coffee in the morning.

_Why am I so stupid? Why?_

"Kind of... For like a few minutes," I confessed meekly.

Memories from the make-out came flooding back. The warmth of Olivia's body against mine. The fruity smell of her hair. The intoxicating taste of her --

_Whoa, there, cowgirl! Get your head on right!_

Paul started to clap joyously. "Boy, have I missed my little Viola. All of the good stuff happens to you! Please tell me exactly what has happened since we've last talked. I want all of the minute details, even if you find them silly."

Rolling my eyes and huffing rather loudly, I prepared myself for one laborious discussion of my life in the past week.

--

(Olivia Lennox)

"So, how did it go?" Maria asked as soon as I slid into our dorm.

Smiling brightly, I practically skipped over to my bed. "Well, if him storming out of Cesario's and almost tying a spoon in a knot constitutes to anything... I'd say pretty damn good!"

Maria's jaw drop. "No, he didn't!"

"Yes," I said with a happy sigh as I flopped myself down on my bed, "he did."

"So," Maria continued, "what does this mean?"

I bit my lip at the prospect. "Sebastian's jealous... most likely thinking about what just happened and why he got so riled up. As long as he's honest with himself, he'll figure it out and he'll come crawling into the little trap I've set for him."

"And what trap is that?"

Giggling like an idiot, "Oh, you'll just have to wait and hear about it!"

Maria looked shocked. She must've thought I was going to tell her so I could get a second opinion on the matter. But truthfully, I was tired of thinking things out. It was time to rely on my instincts.

"When's this great plan of yours going to happen?"

I shrugged and smiled coyly.

"Oh, you have to at least tell me when it's all going down! I'm your best friend!" Maria shot back. A secret was always attractive, even to a person who was not going to be affected either way. "Please."

"Okay, you convinced me!" I excitedly let out. Maria did a little pump fist as if she had just made a miraculous putt or something. "I'm going to play all cool around Sebastian for a few more days. Y'know, really lay it on thick, like I'm over him."

"Why?! You're just going to be wasting time -- time you can just as easily spend together."

I shrugged again. "I want him to know how it feels... and when he does, I'll be able to see this," I paused, searching for the right word, "fire in his eyes. And that's when the games will stop and the pouncing starts."

Maria laughed disbelievingly. "This is gonna be good!"

"Yep, it is!"

--

(Viola Hastings as Viola Hastings)

"And that's basically it," I ended breathlessly. I had spoken for a full half-hour with very little interruptions from Paul to clarify a few things over the events of the past week of my life as Sebastian Hastings.

I looked over at my best friend, who had this knowing look growing in his eye and a mischievous smile curling by the second. I hated that look; I always knew it meant that he knew something I didn't.

"What?" I defeatedly asked with a huff.

Paul's smile was bigger than ever. "Viola, you're so blind!"

I didn't even reply to that, I just stared blankly up at my ceiling.

"Or," Paul continued, "you're just too afraid to admit something. Something as normal as feelings."

"I'm not afraid to admit my feelings! I don't even know what you're talking about anyway!"

"Oh, whatever! You know exactly what I'm talking about. I'm talking about how you like Olivia Lennox and that you like her a lot!" Paul snapped back with excitement. He always got this way whenever my love life was involved somehow.

I made a dry laugh, "I don't like Olivia like that!"

"Really? You wanna go there?"

I continued to make my hollow laughs and each new eruption brought out a louder one.

Paul didn't like this challenge, so he threw down the gauntlet, hard. "If you didn't like Olivia, you wouldn't have made-out with her in the library for as long as you did nor would you have tried to clear the air with her. Then at the party, you wouldn't have spent the entire night with her alone, looking at the lake, talking about your favorite things. And most importantly and telling," Paul took a deep breath to add anticipation as well to catch up on all the oxygen he missed out on during the tirade of sorts. "You wouldn't have gotten so _jealous_ about this Gabe guy taking Olivia out on a date."

"See, right there, I wasn't jealous about Olivia going out with another guy. I was upset that she would be plastered all over him." I rebutted back passionately.

Paul flashed a grin that I knew wasn't a good sign. He must've found a big gaping hole in my defense. "And that totally proves my point, Vi. You didn't like seeing her draped all over someone else."

"No!" I replied flatly, crossing my arms as I sat up.

"Say whatever you want to say, you know I'm right, like always." Paul snapped back as he got up to check his hair in my dresser mirror.

With eye brows furrowed, I pouted. "Fine, I will. I'm not jealous over Gabe being with Olivia."

I looked over at my clock and saw that it was 3 o'clock.

_They probably just got done having sex in the back of Gabe's car._

Thinking that, I hit my forehead over and over again until it started to sting from the biting attack.

"Vi," Paul eyed me in the mirror with a weird mix of intrigue and horror, "what are you doing?"

Throwing my head back and looking up at the ceiling, I finally let the truth be uttered out loud. "I'm jealous!"

"And?" Paul pushed on as he turned around and leaned against my dresser.

Looking down at my bed, I whispered, "I like Olivia."

"There you go, that wasn't so bad, now was it?" Paul cheered happily walking over to me.

I mimicked him childishly in response.

Paul sat down next to me as he whipped out his cell and began to call someone. "We need to get Kia and Yvonne on a three-way to discuss a good plan of action to get you your Miss Lennox."

I had to admit, it felt pretty good to get the whole thing off my chest, even if it had to be forced out of me. But then a big resounding problem smacked me upside the head.

Grabbing Paul's arm, I looked at him like I was staring Death in its face. "But I'm Sebastian to Olivia, not Viola."

Paul's excited eyes dimmed at remembering this, "Oh shit!"

--

A/N: All right! I have to say that I'm excited about the latest chapter I wrote... I'm not going to tell you what it entails, but I will say that you all will enjoy it. It's either two or three chapters after this one. So yeah! Good times are to come.

Also, I know many of you are wanting some hot action between Viola and Olivia because it's been a few weeks since I first posted this story. But you also have to realize the time frame in the story. I would love to throw in a hot make-out scene, believe me! However, it wouldn't make much sense to put it in randomly and then make the chapters before that make-out seem logical, believable, and not like a waste of time; as well as make the characters seem controlled and rational_._ I guess what I'm trying to say is... patience! Please! I think you all deserve a thought out story. So hopefully... you all agree and aren't angry with that.

Other than that, please tell me your thoughts! I love knowing them -- heck, that's why I post my thoughts in these Author Notes because I think you all deserve a reply to your thoughts. So yeah, please give 'em to me! Lol.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I just want to say sorry for not updating on my normal every three days schedule. My excuse is college orientation! If any of you have ever been to an orientation, I'm sure you know that your days are basically scheduled for you, leaving you very little time to text, check email, or even eat. So yeah, I'm sorry! I was going to post a shorter chapter before leaving, but then I thought I would be a shameless tease... So I didn't. Instead, I'm giving you a 10 page chapter. I hope this suffices for my tardiness.

Also, thanks for all of the reviews! Your interest and love for this story is probably the greatest thing about this story, to me. Y'all are pretty much amazing. :D

--

(Viola Hastings as Sebastian Hastings)

I got back to the dorms rather late since I had been attached to Paul's hip the entire night while he, Kia, and Yvonne discussed the possible ways for me revealing to Olivia without completely freaking her out and ruining my chances with her. After many, many hours, we all came to the conclusion that there was no such thing as not freaking her out and scarring her for the rest of her life.

So there I was walking into the dorm room I shared with Duke, exhausted and completely beat.

"Dude, you've been gone for a really long time," Duke told me as he tore his eyes away from the soccer match he was watching on TV.

I stopped in my tracks and realized I had been. "Yeah, I went home for a little while," I said awkwardly as I kicked my shoes off. "I needed a change in scenery."

"Because of Olivia?"

He was such a smart one! Biting my tongue from not saying that out loud to him, I just nodded.

"Sorry about that again, man," Duke said genuinely. "I never saw that one coming."

"Me either," I added as I lied down on my bed tiredly.

Duke worriedly watched me. "You're okay, right? Like you aren't going to cry or anything?"

I laughed at my roommate, "No, I'm not gonna cry!"

"Good 'cause that would be... weird, y'know?"

"Yeah, I know, but I won't, so you don't have to worry about that. Just worry about Ronaldo having his head _in_ the game and not about his date _after_ the game," I quipped snappily back, shutting my eyes, willing myself to slide into a deep sleep.

Duke threw a balled up piece of paper at me. "Hey man! Cristiano Ronaldo is the best player out there right now! Don't give me that crap about the gossip rags! They're just trying to tear him down!"

Smiling goofily at myself, I snuggled my head into my pillow and let my body get the much needed sleep it wanted.

--

(Olivia Lennox)

I checked myself over in the mirror for what seemed like the thousandth time that morning. I was really trying to make myself as drool-worthy as possible. I wanted Sebastian to eat his heart out and it wouldn't hurt if a few other boys did so in the process either. The more who did, the more that would cause Sebastian to open his eyes.

Smiling at myself with a hint of naughtiness, I knew I was going to make many, many people do double-takes today.

"Jesus, Liv! Will you hurry up? We're going to be late for first block if you keep looking at yourself in the mirror!" Maria yelled at me as she shoved my bag into my hands.

Maria wasn't one to ever have a tardy on her record and she'd like to keep it that way.

"Okay, I'm coming right now!" I said following my friend out the door of our dorm.

We scurried over to our first block's hall as quickly as we could without seeming like dorks. Before we entered the hall however, Maria stopped me and looked me dead in the eye with a hint of amusement.

"Knock him dead, Liv!"

I smiled a smile that said, 'Damn right' all over it.

"Okay," my friend said as she spun me around and shoved me into the hall, "get at it!"

Before I knew it, almost every set of eyes were on me and many jaws hit the floor.

_Task A has been achieved._

Smiling still, I just kept walking down the hall without so much as looking at anyone in particular. However, I couldn't help but look around to see if Sebastian had noticed me yet. I didn't have to look long because standing directly opposite of my Economics classroom, Sebastian stood in a group with Duke, Toby, and Andrew. He looked mesmerized.

_Task B is being initiated._

As soon as I knew he was looking, I didn't so much as acknowledge him. If I was going to really make him grovel, I was going to have to treat him like a faceless person in the crowd. I couldn't single him out as much as I wanted to, and tell him that this outfit, that this look, that this girl was all his and his only. But I couldn't. That would ruin it!

I saw Quin walking towards me, so I took the opportunity to really stick to my guns.

"Hey Quin!" I greeted as she started heading into our Economics class.

She stopped when she realized that I was heading that way too, "Hey Olivia! You look really pretty today."

Smiling a gracious smile, I laughed on the inside.

_Thank you, Quin. You just helped me more than you would ever know!_

"Thanks," I softly said back as I walked into the class after her. "You look great today, too! Where did you get your shoes anyway?"

--

(Viola Hastings as Sebastian Hastings)

"Dude, she didn't even look at you! She's looking that smoking hot, and she doesn't even cast a glance your way to see if she's on your radar!" Toby practically shouted at the top of his lungs.

I loved Toby, I really did. But his outright ignorance wasn't helping my cause much. However, he was right. Olivia didn't even look to see if I was drooling over her or not. I was, but she didn't even bother to see, which meant I was off her radar by millions upon millions of miles.

Feeling letdown, I let my messenger bag slide off my shoulder and hit the ground.

Duke pushed Toby back a bit as to settle him down a bit. "Be cool, man. We don't need all of Illyria hearing our pal's predicament."

Toby scratched his neck in a sorry fashion. "Sorry, bro. Didn't realize I was making a scene."

"Don't worry about it," I brokenly said. "They all seemed to have noticed anyway."

Toby, Andrew, and Duke looked around to see what I already had -- everyone in the hall was whispering hurriedly to each as they looked over at our group.

"Let's just get to class." Duke told the group at he glared at all the onlookers as if daring each and every one of them to keep gawking.

--

(Viola Hastings as Sebastian Hastings)

I was dreading Biology more than ever. It wasn't because Olivia seemed to have forgotten I even existed or that something used to brew between us. It was because I knew I wasn't going to make through the block without somehow revealing how much I liked her. I was the type that would say something without thinking about it or realizing I had said it out loud, and then see how freakish and creeper-esque it sounded.

One time, when I met Jenny Lewis from Rilo Kiley, I told her I loved her when I meant to say I loved her music. She was really nice and sweet about it, but I could tell the confession of sorts was a little weird. Knowing me, something like that was going to slip out, except this time it wouldn't mean anything other than how it sounded and meant.

Duke gave me an assuring nod as I looked over at him from my lab table. Olivia hadn't shown up yet, so I was left thinking about nothing but her and that outfit she was wearing.

Speaking of which, an image of it popped into my mind. It didn't break school dress code or anything, but it definitely was collar tugging worthy. Maybe it was just how she wore it? She had this essence about her that was just... captivating. People always said confidence was sexier than stilettos, and I had to hand it to them, because on Olivia, it was as true as Mia Hamm being the best female soccer player to have ever played the beautiful game.

Right then my phone went off loudly. "I'm a Barbie girl in a Barbie world --"

"Hello?" I asked hurriedly, catching all sorts of looks of bemusement and amusement.

"Vi? How's the plan going?" Paul began on the other end.

I rolled my eyes. "What plan, oh Knowing One? We never came up with a good one, remember?"

"No, we came up with good ones. Really nice and elaborate ones that would make anyone dizzy. It's just that it wasn't quite right when emotions were thrown into the mix."

"Exactly, robots could pull it off. Humans couldn't!" I whispered quickly back. My teacher was giving me a look of warning, telling me that if I wasn't off the phone by the time the bell rang, she was going to take it up.

Paul sighed, "Anyways, have you seen her today?"

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I answered, "Yeah."

"And?"

"She looks," I paused to find the right word, but right at the same time, Olivia came into the classroom and all trains of thought stopped where they were.

My ears were ringing at the sight of her. For some reason, everything related to emotions kind of went haywire. My heart started to skip beats, my fingers started to tingle, my knees went a little weak, hell, even my stomach started flipping.

Olivia looked over and gave me a small smile.

_I don't think I've loved Biology class more in my life. Thank you Darwin! Thank you Mendel! Thank you Bacon! And Hardy! And Weinberg! _

"Vi? Vi. Vi!"

"Huh?" I let out lightly. Then realizing where I was and that I was in plain sight, I took my eyes away from Olivia. "What, sorry?"

"I guess that's my answer. I'm gonna let you go since she's obviously in the room," Paul quickly rambled.

"Okie doke, smoke," I said absentmindedly as Olivia finally reached our lab table.

"Freak!" Paul shouted before ending the call.

Dazedly taking the phone away from my ear, I snapped it shut and slid it into my pocket.

"Olivia," I started with a goofy smile on my face.

Olivia set her bag down before she even responded, "Hey Sebastian."

I bit my nails nervously and looked over unsurely at Duke. He and Eunice motioned for me to continue making an effort to talk to Olivia. Taking my fingers away from my mouth, I cleared my throat. "So, what's up?"

Olivia shrugged her shoulders a bit and flipped through her science notebook. "You know, same old stuff," she answered flatly. "Just waiting for the end of the day to come."

_My gosh, I'm screwed. She doesn't even seem the least bit interested in me._

I nodded and scratched my wrist, even though it didn't really itch. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

Right then the bell rang and Mrs. Plainview called all of her class to attention.

I have to admit, I didn't really pay attention. It's not that I didn't want to -- I actually tried really hard multiple times. It's just that having Olivia sit two feet in front of me was a little distracting. Actually, that's an understatement. Olivia was very distracting. With all of the crazy emotions I was experiencing, like confusion with a great big side of puppy love, I couldn't help but think about her.

Mrs. Plainview talked for a while about DNA and its molecular makeup, and if you would've come up to me in the middle of the lecture and ask me what kind of nitrogen bases could be found DNA, I couldn't tell you. I was too wrapped up in my thoughts to even really care what those specific bases were... I mean, would I even need to know that later on in life? Most likely not. Sure, it would make a good Cash Cab question, but I didn't foresee a trip to Big Apple in the future.

"All right, I think that will do for the notes today," Mrs. Plainview announced as she began to erase the dry erase board, drawing me out of my inner monologue of questions and answers. Everyone who was taking notes quickly tried to copy the last bit of information on the board before Mrs. Plainview forever erased it.

Turning back to the class, Mrs. Plainview clapped her hands together. "Let's do something hands on to make sure you all understand DNA fully."

I rolled my eyes and huffed. _Shit, I'm gonna seem like an idiot now._

"With your lab partners," Mrs. Plainview continued, "make a T-chart showing the differences between DNA and RNA. And then, once you're done, turn those charts in by the end of class to receive daily credit."

I kind of brightened at the thought of being able to work with Olivia. I thought that I could possibly get a better read on her while interacting better than just sitting near each other.

Olivia turned around with her notebook full of notes. I glanced at my blank page in front of me and gave her a meek smile. "You obviously were the better student today!" I joked, peering over at her.

Her blue eyes danced. Smiling, Olivia nodded at my notebook, "Yeah, and you were definitely the one in La La Land."

Laughing softly, I nodded. "Yeah, you could say that."

The blonde began to draw the T-chart. "What were you thinking about anyways?" she asked as she started scribbling away on the chart.

At first, I felt like she caught me with my hand in the cookie jar, but then my mind started to sputter out ideas. "I was, ugh, thinking about s-soccer."

"Oh, about your next match?" Olivia continued with a devilish tone to her voice, which kind of confused me, to say the least.

"Y-yeah," I stuttered feeling my cheeks heat up. Luckily, Olivia was too preoccupied with filling out the T-chart to notice.

An uncomfortable silence followed for a few minutes as Olivia finished up working on the T-chart. It was awkward mainly because I wanted to ask Olivia questions... Questions I had no business asking. But my daft side won out.

"So, Olivia," I started as Olivia began to rip the T-chart out of her notebook, "how long have you and Gabe had a thing?"

Olivia smiled at the thought of her and Gabe. I wanted to vomit at the disgusting thought of them all over each other, happy and excited. "Well, we've always kind of had a thing. We've known each other since forever, really."

_So you made-out with me while you 'kind of' liked him? I'm so pissed that there isn't a real word to express it! GKAHJUIYBSDF!!_

"Oh!" I gritted out through a locked jaw.

"Yeah!" Olivia continued on cheerfully. "He's just a real man, y'know? Every time I look at him, I just want to," she stopped and laughed shamelessly at herself, "pounce him."

If I had been holding a pencil, it would've snapped in half. My blood pressure was rising along with my anger and jealousy, but I held my tongue. Lord knows, I would've unleashed many, many biting remarks.

"You know what would be fun?" Olivia continued on effortlessly.

Rubbing over my face roughly, "What?"

Olivia looked over at me with intensely happy eyes. "If we doubled!"

My stomach hit the floor while confusion slapped me across the face. "D-double?" I stammered out pathetically.

Nodding, Olivia smiled at the thought. "Yeah! Me, Gabe, your date, and," Olivia's eyes flickered dangerously, causing me to unintentionally gulp, "you."

"Double?" I ignorantly let out again. I couldn't help but have a brain freeze -- I was experiencing a blindside.

"Like I said, I think it'd be fun. Plus," Olivia continued as she wrote our names on the T-chart, "you'll get to know Gabe."

I laughed as congenially as possible... when really, I felt like Hulking it out. "Well, I think you convinced me."

_Wait, did I just say that? _

_Yes! It'll be fine. It'll be reconnaissance work._

Olivia smiled the biggest smile and then got up from her chair with the T-chart in hand. "Good! Let's do Cesario's on Saturday!"

"Okie doke!" I replied through gritted teeth.

Olivia got up and turned our paper in. I normally would've been guilty for not helping out, but with the foreboding double-date looming just over the horizon, I couldn't care less.

"So, who are you going to ask?" Olivia bubbly asked as she hopped into her seat.

I shrugged, "I don't know. I'll have to think about it."

It was a good question though. I could go a certain number of ways... 1.) I could pick someone I knew would be a fun date to help me with my misery, 2.) I could pick someone I knew wouldn't have any expectations about the end of the date, and 3.) I could pick someone I knew would make Olivia realize I'm not just some kind of substitute make-out partner for _Gabe_.

But who? The person I would choose would in essence have to embody all three requirements. I mean, I could easily go for number three only, but then, if they were digging my 'Sebastian', they would be hoping for some action at the end of the night.

Sitting up a little straighter on my stool, I came up with the perfect person.

--

(Viola Hastings as Sebastian Hastings)

"Hello?" A cheery voice began on the other side of the connection.

"Kia!" I practically shouted as I made my way down to the practice soccer field in my practice gear.

"Viola? Oh my gosh, what's up?!"

Smiling at my best friend's excitement, I replied. "I've backed myself in a corner only you can get me out of."

"Whoa, something Paul can't get you out of?!" She asked with intrigue definitely on the rise.

"I came up with the plan on my own, thank you very much." I answered as I walked onto the field.

Kia giggled animatedly, "And what plan is that?"

I looked all around me to make sure that no one was close enough to overhear. Whispering, "You being my date as we double with Olivia and Gabe."

"But everyone already knows that you dumped me, remember?" Kia chimed as I saw Duke, Toby, and Andrew walk out of the locker room.

"I remember, but that doesn't mean we can't date!" I shot back hurriedly. I knew that the rest of team was going to be coming out soon, which meant I needed an answer pronto.

I heard Kia talking to someone, and that person was most likely Yvonne. "KIA!"

"Okay, okay!" She responded, trying to calm me down. "I'll be your date. When's this shindig going down?"

"Saturday at Cesario's. I don't know the details past that." By that time, the guys were by me, listening to my conversation. They started to high-five each other when they realized I was setting up a date.

Kia hummed like she normally did when she was writing something down, which is what she was probably doing. "All right, got it. Just call me when you know the specifics."

"Sebastian's a pimp!" Andrew exclaimed loudly.

"Are the boys around?" Kia asked, obviously hearing Andrew's shout.

Looking at my gang of knuckleheads around me, I smirked. "Yep."

"Good, then I can make this phone call interesting. I'll speak a little louder so they can hear, 'kay?"

I liked the way Kia was thinking! "Uh-huh."

"Oh, Sebastian!" Kia said in her sex kitten voice loudly. I found it really hard not to laugh and get turned on myself. The boys mouthed some 'no way'-s, 'oh shit'-s, and 'am I dreaming'-s. "I've been praying that you'd ask me out!"

The boys looked mesmerized, like they were fantasizing about Kia saying such things to them instead of me.

"The last time has left me wanting more!" Kia continued unabashedly. "I can't tell you how me times I've thought about you when I tou--"

"All right, Nancy boys! Time to work!" Coach Dinklage shouted at the top of his lungs.

Looking over at my counterparts, they seemed to be choking on their tongues. The boys must've thought the Coach just C-slapped them or something. I had to turn around to keep from laughing. "All right, well, I gotta go. The next time I'll see you, it'll be in the backseat of my car on Saturday," I said before ended the call quickly. I didn't want Dinklage on my ass the entire practice -- he hated cell phones on the pitch.

Turning back around, I found the gawking boys still where they stood when Coach cut off Kia's tantalizing confession. "What?" I asked as if it wasn't a big deal.

_Oh, I'm so good at this!_

"S-someone's got their swerve back," Duke stumbled all over himself as I walked past him and over to Coach Dinklage and Rutgers.

I shook my head and called over my shoulder, "Nah, I never lost it."

--

A/N: Like I said earlier, I hope this chapter made up for my late update. If it doesn't, I'd love to know where I failed you... Because that would be beneficial to both you and me. On the other hand, if you liked, really liked, or loved this chapter, please tell me! I'm such a needy writer. LOL. Did I just say that? I guess I did. Oh well, I'm sure you all already knew that anyway... So yeah, send me your thoughts!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: I'm glad that you all enjoyed the last chapter! Makes me happy to know that you all decided to stick around after my unusual absence. So thank you very much for that! ;)

This chapter contains soccer and is setting up for the double date in the next chapter. Please be patient! I'm excited about the next chapter... and I'm sure y'all are as well... So yeah!

--

(Olivia Lennox)

Flopping down on my bed, I gushed, "He took the bait!"

Maria clapped her hands and then exclaimed, "Heck yeah!"

"I know, right?" I responded cheerfully, but then reality came around and smacked me on the forehead. "Now all I have to worry about is who his date is going to be."

Furrowing her eyebrows, Maria contemplated a bit. "Good point," she conceded. "But how many girls has Sebastian really talked to since coming to Illyria?"

"Not many... Just me, you, Eunice," I laughed when I reached her name, "and -- oh know!" I covered my face when _her_ face popped up in my mind. "And Blaire Ravenport."

"Well, I can tell you he's not going to ask me or Eunice," Maria said quickly, taking herself out of the running. "So that really just leaves Blaire."

Taking my hands away from my face and telling myself to suck it up, that I did kind of force him into doubling in the first place, I nodded determinedly. "Okay, I'm okay."

"However!" Maria cried out, causing me to nearly jump out of my skin. "He was quite popular with the girls from Cornwall. They're not off limits. He could easily ask one of his past flames or 'almosts' out."

Being reminded of Sebastian's kind of whorish past before he came to Illyria, I had to face the music. It was most likely going to be the biggest slut from Illyria or one of the girls Sebastian had sex with before. "Great!" I faintly remarked. "I'm going to get front row tickets to the Sebastian and Anonymous Slut porno!"

"Hey, no plan is perfect. You're going to have to take the good with the bad. The good being Sebastian'll have to watch you and Gabe, which will make him uber-jealous. Whereas, the bad being you're going to have to watch Sebastian get kissed and groped all night, which will make you uber-jealous." Maria answered in a very matter-of-fact fashion.

"You're not making me feel better," I replied as I rolled over and looked at my best friend.

Maria shrugged and smiled a sorry. "You just need to remember that the double date will be a minefield, and that's what I'm trying to do."

"You suck," I huffed.

Maria just nodded.

--

(Viola Hastings as Sebastian Hastings)

"Dude, I'm so amped, I'd take on Chuck Norris right now!" Andrew hollered as the team left the locker room. The crowd's cheering and chanting echoed all the way down the tunnel. I felt my heart racing from anticipation and adrenaline.

Duke gave me nudge, "It's you and me out there, man. We know our flow."

I bumped fists with Duke, "You know it, bro."

The team finally emerged from the shadowy tunnel and squinted at the bright sunlight. Our red uniforms vibrantly waved at the crowd as the team walked over to our team bench, causing all Illyrians to shout louder than ever.

The Rutherford team was already warming up on the field in their white and green. I looked over at them, sizing them up. I immediately spotted their MVP -- Chase Davis, number 7. He was well-known throughout the district because he had the highest scoring average and highest caps out of every player. I remember being in awe of his finesse when Rutherford played Cornwall last season. He could move the ball like no one else in the area. Scouts noticed him during his sophomore year and since it was his senior year, they all were hounding him like clubs hounded Zidane in 2001.

I looked up at the stands and immediately spotted the scouts. You could always tell who they were -- they wore a strict regiment of Adidas or Nike warm-up gear with their school's crest over their hearts.

_Got to play your A-game today, Vi! This is your best shot and probably only shot to be seen._

"You see 'em too, huh?" Duke asked me as he stretched his quads.

Nodding, I rolled my ankles out. "Yeah. No pressure, right?" I joked.

Duke laughed a dry laugh and continued his pre-game routine.

--

(Olivia Lennox)

"Sebastian looks so hot!" Blaire Ravenport squealed to her pack of followers.

Rolling my eyes, I looked over at my best friend and gave her a look of annoyance. "Exactly, why did you force me into this seat?"

Maria looked at me as if I was the stupidest person to have ever lived. "How about it's the perfect spot to eavesdrop? This way you can find out if she's Sebastian's date or not for tomorrow's chess match of sorts."

I smiled an understanding smile that slowly creeped into a devilish one. "You're good, y'know that, right?"

"Yeah, pretty much!" Maria replied with a hint of ego.

Laughing, I looked back onto the field. Sebastian did look hot, but that wasn't new. However, he did keep looking up at the stands...

_Is his date here?!_

I nearly jumped over the people who were standing and cheering in front of me to see exactly who he was staring at. "Jesus, I can't see a thing!"

"What are trying to look at, anyway?" Maria asked, looking at me as if I was acting very odd.

Whispering, so the people ahead of me wouldn't think I was a weirdo, "I'm trying to see who Sebastian keeps looking over at."

Maria got up on her tiptoes and searched. After a few pregnant seconds, she flatfooted herself and shrugged her shoulders. "Just some scouts. I guess this is a pretty big game for everyone playing."

Remembering that Sebastian was kind of distracted about today's game in Bio yesterday, I instantly felt nervous for him. This was indeed a very big game. Sebastian told me point blank, he came to Illyria to play soccer and knowing that scouts -- people who would ensure or dismantle his future -- were there was definitely something to be anxious of.

"He'll do fine," I said without hesitation.

"Let's hope," Maria pessimistically shot back as she eyed the brunette on the field.

I shook my head and mirrored her actions. "I know he will."

--

(Viola Hastings as Sebastian Hastings)

Chase Davis sent the ball artfully into the back of the net.

"Fuck!" I said to myself as I looked up at the sky. He was so good. It was as if he was playing with a bunch of statues.

Not feeling up to watching Rutherford's celebration, I turned around and headed back to the middle of the field.

Duke caught up with me, "It's like the defense has decided to sit this one out!"

"I know, it's starting to get old," I growled as I waited for the celebrating Rutherford team to get back on their damn side of the field.

I glared at the passing Chase Davis who had the smuggest grin on his face.

Looking back at Duke, I said, "We need to make sure Toby and Andrew are on the same page as us because all I know is that we're about to carry this team to a win if it means my life!"

The ref brought the ball back to the center of the field and put it on the dot. "Ready Illyria?"

I nodded and walked up to the ball with Duke by my side. "We're ready all right."

The referee jogged away and blew his whistle. Duke tapped the ball forward and then I rounded the ball and sent it back to Toby, who received it beautifully. Rutherford's forwards sprinted to cut off all of Toby's possible lines. Moving to a space, I waved for Toby's pass, which he sent agilely. Getting the ball, I spun around to face the oncoming midfielders. Knowing that Rutherford's midfield was lacking in speed, I just did a quick scissor move to throw them off and then busted down the sideline past them.

A player always gets a gut feeling whenever they haul ass towards the enemy's territory. It's something like excitement and fear... and some confidence thrown in. I got that feeling as soon as I beat the last midfielder. I only had four defenders to beat now, but I knew I couldn't do it alone.

Looking over at the opposite sideline, I saw Duke busting his ass to get open. Knowing that if I sent a sweet chip over the defenders, Duke would be able to meet it in time without any trouble and only the goalkeeper in his way. Seeing the opportunity and seizing it, I wound back and kicked the ball over the line of defense. The ball landed right where I needed it to, just a couple yards in front Duke. How I kicked the ball, drew the goalie out of his goal just enough for Duke to make his scramble backwards, making him too wrapped up with his mistake to really watch where Duke was going.

I sprinted up to follow through just in case if Duke's shot was blocked. With hopeful eyes, I watched Duke make a fluid cut to the right, pull back his foot, and nutmeg the keeper, sending the ball into the goal!

The Illyria crowd jumped to its feet and sent a crazed cry out into the air. Duke turned around and pointed directly at me as I ran directly at him.

"That was the best pass that could've ever been sent my way, man!" Duke shouted as he gave me a bear hug.

Patting him as manly as I could, I yelled, "Hell yeah it was, but that was the best nutmeg I've ever witnessed!"

The rest of our team enveloped us and jumped up and down, shouting, roaring... you name it.

"It's an even game now, boys!" Duke screamed. "Let's make sure it doesn't stay that way for long!"

--

(Viola Hastings as Sebastian Hastings)

_Stoppage time. Tied game. It's now or never, Vi. _

I stared at the 2 the sideline referee was holding up, telling everyone that there was only two minutes until the end of the game. I knew that was a short amount of time to work some last minute magic, but I knew that I could make it happen. I believed it.

The Rutherford goalkeeper was taking an awfully long time to kick the ball back into play. He must've thought a tie was better than a loss. After what seemed like months, he finally did. He had a good kick too because it was ten yards deep onto our side before Andrew jumped up and headed the ball back towards the middle of the field. Duke was there to settle the ball and beat out the midfielder who had been on him.

He darted diagonally toward the left corner of the Rutherford side. Knowing that some major shit was about to go down, I hustled and made sure I was going to be apart of it. Duke was cut off by a defender who slid to intercept the ball, which he did successfully, but he didn't have the ball long because Toby came and tackled the ball away from him, which sent the ball right back to Duke's feet.

By this time, I was at the defense's line, making sure I wasn't offsides. If I knew Duke at all, I knew he would sprint down the sideline, cut over, and then cross the ball over to me, where I would tap the ball in without any trouble. He did exactly as I thought. We were one mind. Since he was doing his job, I prepared to do mine. Like I had planned, since Duke was making a run for it, the defense was drawn more over to his side, leaving me virtually alone. The defender who was at Duke's side was getting awfully hands-y.

_Pass it, Duke, before he fouls you and they have enough time to set up._

Duke must've heard my plea because not a second later, he sent this left-footed, jaw-dropping cross my lonesome way. If I could just get to the ball, I knew the goalkeeper would be as beat as his defense was. Jumping forward, I eyed the ball as it inched towards my face. As if it was the perfect movie ending, my head connected with the ball and it flew into the right corner of the goal.

I heard the Illyrian fans erupt in celebration before I landed painfully on the ground. It wasn't that I hurt myself, I just belly flopped... on solid ground. Gasping for air, I rolled over onto my back, spent and elated.

But before I could even catch my breath, a bunch of red jerseys jumped on top of me creating a mountain of Illyrian soccer players. If I thought the belly flop hurt, it was nothing compared to being underneath ten 150 lbs boys. However, before I could be suffocated completely, I felt them all getting off of me.

Seeing the light of day again, Duke offered me his hand with the biggest smile on his face. I took it and laughed, "Is this really happening?!"

"Chief, I hope so!" He replied as he pulled me up with ease and wrapped his arm around my neck. "You're the man!"

Patting Duke's back, I said back, "You're the man! I was just in the right place at the right time."

Finally, the head ref blew the final whistle. He must've realized he wasn't going to get the Illyria team back on its side in time for Rutherford's Hail Mary attack. Hearing that whistle was the most comforting noise. It meant that the war I just endured was, in fact, over and Illyria was victorious!

The crowd that was decked out in red and black started to rush the field as if we had just won the state championship and surrounded Duke and I. People I had never met in my life shook my hand and hugged me. Some girl actually flashed Duke and I, which left us dazed and confused. Somehow, as I came out of that crazy moment of disbelief, Olivia popped up in front of me.

"You two were so amazing!" she said to both Duke and I.

I felt myself blushing, but I didn't really worry about it much. I knew I was already red in the face from running around in 70 degree weather. Smiling and not containing a laugh, I replied, "Thanks! It was mainly Duke's fancy footwork."

Duke shoved me a bit and shook his head. "Are you kidding me?! Sebastian was the MVP of this game."

Around this time, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Turning around to see who it was, I found that Coach Dinklage managed to squeeze his way into the center where Duke and I were being held captive by enthusiastic schoolmates.

"I'm so proud of you two!" He started happily. "And even though I want you two to soak in this experience, you've got to get back to the locker room."

I nodded and remembered that Olivia was behind me, I turned around to say bye. But when I turned around, I saw that Olivia disappeared. I'd be lying if I said that didn't tug my heart down a bit. I wanted to enjoy all of this with her... I didn't care about the afro guy who painted his entire body in black and red stripes or the girl who just flashed us. I only cared about sharing it with her.

_She has Gabe, Viola. She's not going to stand around in this mob and celebrate with you when she's not _with_ you._

"We better get going," Duke shouted in my ear. I nodded again and followed my best friend and soccer soulmate back towards the team locker room.

--

(Olivia Lennox)

"Jesus!" I exasperatedly whispered as some middle-aged man jumped in front me, causing others to squeeze greedily in front me, which cut Sebastian off from me completely.

Looking over at Maria, who I had managed to drag along with me, I said, "I hope he doesn't think I just left him."

Maria gave me a look telling me I was fretting for no reason. "Liv, he just scored the game winning goal! People are treating him like he's Caesar, who just conquered the barbarians. I don't think he has his full attention on you right now."

I shrugged. My best friend always had a good point. "Come on," Maria continued, "let's get out of this chaos."

I felt badly for just leaving the crowd, even if Sebastian wouldn't notice my absence. I wanted to be there so I could talk about it with him later. It would be something we both would be able to look back on with a smile. But I followed Maria nonetheless with a heavy heart.

Upon breaking through the last wall of people, Maria and I remembered what it felt like to have a bubble. We gave each other more than enough personal space as we made the walk back towards the dorms.

"So, tomorrow is going to be as big as this game," Maria started, breaking my train of sad thoughts.

Feeling the butterflies, which originated from both Nervous Town and Excitedville, flutter around in my tummy, I nodded. "Yeah, it will be. Hopefully, it goes as well as this one did too!"

"Did Gabe seem like he was up to his duties?"

I looked down at the grass we were walking on. "Yeah, he did. I'm just afraid that it'll reopen some wounds."

Maria hollowly laughed, "Probably, but, hey, he agreed."

"I only hope he doesn't give off a sad longing vibe. If he does," I looked over at Maria, trying to emphasize my point, "Sebastian will catch it. For some strange reason, Sebastian is just as good as me when it comes to body language and signs and all that stuff."

"Yeah, it is freaky how intuitive he is for a guy."

"Well," I started as I remembered what my mom told me about Sebastian since she knew his mom from Debutante meetings, "he has a twin sister."

"Ah-ha!" Maria exclaimed softly. "The twin thing. Twins have weird connections, so he probably picked up the trick up off his sister."

I wondered what his sister was like... If she was anything like Sebastian, she would make a pretty cool potential friend, that is, if she liked me.

"I should try and meet her some time," I declared.

Maria nodded and hopped onto the sidewalk. "It probably wouldn't hurt! You'd most likely gain some points with Sebastian if you tried to meet his twin."

"Yeah," I said a little bit more determinedly, "I'll do it."

--

A/N: All right, I hope this chapter fed the need for an update. If it was underwhelming or just average, tell me to kick it into high gear. But please be aware that this chapter was the quiet before the storm, so to speak. I couldn't skip the soccer because it's a very important thing in Viola's life as well as the movie's. So yeah!

Please send me your thoughts! They're very important -- they let me know what I need to do. For example, some told me they enjoyed the soccer aspect, whereas others have said they didn't. I've tried to find a happy balance. If the balance is not equal, I'll be happy to hear which side I'm favoring a little too much.

Other than that, I hope you all are excited about the next chapter!


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Judging by the lack of reviews a chapter normally receives... I was a tease with Chapter Eight. I know soccer doesn't compare to Viola/"Sebastian" and Olivia interaction. But here's the chapter you all have been waiting for since Olivia set the date. And I'm sure you all will be happy to know that it's the longest chapter so far.

So, please, enjoy!

--

(Olivia Lennox)

"How does this look?" I asked as I slid into a pair of black skinny jeans. "Do my love handles show too much?"

"What love handles?" Maria quipped as she looked over at me from her bed. She was bored. I could understand that. I mean, I had been looking for the perfect, drop dead gorgeous meets you can look but you can't touch outfit for an hour already.

Spinning around, staying in the skinny jeans, I looked for the matching top. I had all kinds -- plunging neckline shirts, cute graphic tees, American Apparel V-necks, the works.

"You know," Maria offered flatly, "you could show up in what you wore yesterday and both guys would have a hard time keeping their eyes off you."

I rolled my eyes and whispered, "Whatever."

Continuing my search, knowing that the clock was ticking, I grabbed a few shirts and threw them on my bed. Throwing on the first one, which was a light purple vintage inspired graphic tee I picked up at Delia's earlier in the year. It was cute. I walked over to the full length mirror and looked at myself. The tee had the legendary Debbie Harry on it. I looked like I was trying... trying to be cool.

Taking the tee off, I threw it onto the floor with the other discarded garments I gave the no to, which had grown into a quite ominous mountain of clothing. I picked my second choice and flung it on me. I looked at myself again and analyzed every minute detail. This item was one of those plunging neckline numbers. It was teal, which went well with both my eyes and my skin tone, and it had a few embellishments on it. The shirt definitely showed off my curves... But was it too showy for Cesario's? Yes. Casting the shirt off and throwing it on top of the purple one before it, I continued my dance-like shirt ritual.

Picking up the last shirt I threw onto my bed, I pessimistically put it on. It was a heather grey V-neck I ordered off the American Apparel website on a whim. Before I even had time to get to the mirror, my best friend said, "That's the one."

Rushing quicker over to the mirror, I looked and agreed. "Yeah, I think so." The grey tee looked good on me, I'm not gonna lie. Like the teal shirt, this one showed off my curves without seeming slutty while, on the other hand, it also gave off a sense of comfort. Plus, it looked great with my skinny jeans.

"Now all you need are the shoes!" Maria sarcastically piped as she flipped a page of her magazine.

"Nah, I think my black flats will do the trick." I replied, picking up my mountain of clothes and setting them onto my bed. "I'll do these later."

Right then, someone knocked on our dorm room. "That's Gabe!"

Sliding into my black flats at the speed of light and grabbing my purse, I walked over to the door and opened it. Like Maria had guessed, it was my best guy friend. "Hey," I greeted with a smile.

"Hey," he greeted back as he looked me over. "You look hot!"

Laughing, I shrugged, "I try."

Slapping and rubbing his hands together, "How about we break some hearts, then?"

--

(Viola Hastings as Viola Hastings)

"KIA!" I shouted into the door.

Kia had been getting ready behind her locked bathroom door for the past hour. I was fine with it for half an hour, but then paranoia started to creep into my system. I didn't like being left out of the decision-making process. It made me feel out of control when I needed to be in control -- this was my double date, dammit!

"Kiaaaaa..." I whined as I leaned my head against the wood door. "Let me in!"

All of the sudden, the door opened, causing my weight to spill into the bathroom. "You know," Kia started, "I could take that last statement a completely different way -- a Katy Perry way -- if I knew we weren't going on a double date to win over another girl's heart!"

Huffing, I pushed myself up off the floor and looked at my best gal pal for the first time since entering the bathroom. She was wearing a micro-mini skirt, with a very showy top, topped off with stilettos. I couldn't help but gawk at her. To say the least, she was dressed to kill... Olivia's heart.

"I'm going to take your unusual silence as a sign that I'm dressed perfectly for the hot slut part!" Kia animatedly said.

I nodded, "Y-yeah."

Kia brushed past me, "Good! Let's go then -- I'm hungry!"

--

(Olivia Lennox)

Gabe and I got to Cesario's before Sebastian and his date. The wait was excruciating... It was way worse than picking out my outfit. I didn't have to to think about me anymore, I had to think about Sebastian's date. Was she another slut? Was she prettier than me? Would she be a bitch? Or... something I feared the most, would she be really nice?

"You okay?" Gabe asked, leaning towards me.

His kind blue eyes were searching and earnest. I felt guilty for dragging him further into this mess. "Yeah," I let out shakily.

Gabe smiled an understanding smile, "The other girl doesn't stand a chance tonight. You know that, right?"

I felt my cheeks start to burn and I laughed softly. Gabe always knew how to say the right things to make me feel a little bit more comfortable. "I hope so," I confessed as the nerves started to dissipate.

As soon as I said that, all of the comfort I was given was taken away when Sebastian and his date entered Cesario's. Sebastian looked as cute as ever in his vintage Pele jersey and baggy jeans. But then my eyes betrayed me and slid over to the brunette standing by him, holding his hand and already all over him. She looked oddly familiar... too familiar. That's when BAM! It hit me. She was one of his ex-girlfriends.

"Oh god!" I whispered to myself, feeling sick to my stomach.

Not only had Maria been right about him picking a girl from Cornwall, she was also right in saying he'd most likely pick a past flame.

"What?" Gabe asked as he began to play the part, which entailed wrapping his arm around me affectionately.

Sebastian's ex was wearing a slutty outfit too to make matters even worse. A micro-mini that would have every guy in this joint hoping to peek up, a flashy low cut shirt that begged to be tore off at the end of the night, and a pair of stilettos that were deadly dangerous.

_I don't stand a chance..._

But I didn't find her outfit as the most threatening thing. It was their obvious connection and understanding of one another. Just by the way they stood with each other, I could tell that they were very open and considerate of the other. Sure, they loved their PDA, but just the way they looked at each other... you could tell they cared about each other, which was something I didn't want to see. I'd rather see pure sex in their eyes!

"I'm so screwed!" I weakly said, finally tearing my eyes away from my nameless nemesis.

Gabe kissed my temple, which surprised me, and then whispered in my ear, "Not if I have anything to do with it."

For some strange reason, his statement seemed to corral the determined and devilish side of me. I began to nod, "You're right."

I looked back up just in time to see that Sebastian and his date had found our table.

"Hey Olivia," Sebastian greeted with his signature goofy, but it turned into a cool one when he greeted Gabe.

Being that Gabe was up for a challenge, he only nodded back at Sebastian and then placed his other hand on my leg cheekily.

Sebastian took notice of this and for a split second, I thought I saw what looked like a Hulk out moment coming on. But just when I thought I saw it, it disappeared into his green depths when Kia put her hand in his chest and whispered something -- most likely what she wanted to do to him tonight -- into his ear, causing him to blush.

_I wish I had that ability._

"Oh!" Sebastian let out as if just remembering, "This is Kia."

Kia must've thought it was funny that he forgot such a simple introduction because she giggled one of those giggles that made me want to hurl.

There were two different types of girls I found dangerous: the girl next door (me) and the sex kitten. Kia was the kind that played the sex kitten -- the kind of girl boys dreamed about. Why? Because they knew she thought about and wanted sex just as much as they did. It was girls like Kia that made my cause hard, which made me want to kick her ass.

However, despite my desire to rip out Kia's extensions, I instead flashed a daring smile and said, "It's so nice to meet you, Kia!"

Kia smiled graciously as she sat down and slid over in the booth to let Sebastian sit down across from me, but I continued on with a cheesy smile. "Now I know _exactly_ what kind of, ugh, girl Sebastian is looking for."

Any girl and perhaps an intuitive boy in Cesario's would've understood what that 'ugh' meant. It was a verbal jab laced with an insinuation that Kia wasn't a girl, but a whore, a slut... anything but a girl.

Kia didn't blink for a few seconds. She understood. A confrontational gleam started to take root in Kia's naturally seductive eyes. I had to admit it felt good knowing she didn't take too kindly to that statement. Instead, Kia just smiled, entwined her fingers with Sebastian's, which made Sebastian smile down at their hands, and, in turn, slapped me in the face.

_Passive aggression is a bitter pill to swallow._

--

(Viola Hastings as Sebastian Hastings)

Kia was doing wonders. Without so much as opening her mouth once, she was able to pull Olivia, the cordial debutante who was even nice to Eunice, into a furtive verbal assault. I hadn't expected it to come out so quickly. I thought _maybe_ it would've come around when the pizza was served. But nope! It made an appearance within the first minute of our arrival.

_I wonder if Gabe noticed?_

Rubbing the back of Kia's hand with my thumb, knowing this extra measure would be yield a satisfactory reaction from a particular blonde, I decided to break the ice.

"So, Gabe," I started, looking over at the brunette who was attached to Olivia, which made me want to roll my eyes, "Olivia said you two have known each other for a long time."

Gabe nodded and smiled one of those 'boyfriend' smiles. The kind of smile you only see guys smile when they're reminded of their girlfriend or lover. "Yeah, we grew up next door to each other, so we were kind of inseparable for a long time."

"Aw, how cute!" Kia offered with a deliciously sweet tone. I glanced over at Olivia who just fronted a biting smile. It was obvious she didn't like Kia one bit. But her dislike over Kia didn't stop Olivia from getting hands-y with Gabe.

"Yeah," Olivia said as she looked over at her boyfriend as she placed her hand on his abs. "What can we say? We're kind of perfect for each other." And at that, she kissed Gabe. It wasn't just a peck either. No. I would've been fine if it was a peck, maybe a little bit bruised. But no. It wasn't... It was one of those kisses you wish you were the one receiving and not witnessing.

I felt like someone came over to me and gutted me right then and there. Every muscle in me tensed up. Kia gave me a squeeze, causing me to look over at my date.

Her eyes were encouraging, reminding me that I needed to keep a facade of indifference towards those two and a facade of ecstasy when it pertained to her. I nodded to say I understood. She smiled a reassuring smile, as if to say that she's willing to go to the outer limits if I was.

I gave her a wink. The outer limits would be visited soon enough, not just yet though. The effectiveness wouldn't be there if we went there while Olivia and Gabe were only concluding their recent rash of PDA.

_Later. It will be worth it then._

Kia squirmed closer to me and placed her hand on my leg and started to rub it. Since the table was blocking Kia's exact movements, the couple sitting opposite of us only had their imaginations to run on. I couldn't contain a laugh at what was going through their minds, which caused Kia to giggle as well, but more sensually... making the situation way more blush-worthy than it really was.

I couldn't look over at Olivia. My eyes would give away the joke, which would prove disastrous. However, I didn't need to look over at her to see her reaction. I heard silence. That was a sign in and of itself. Silence meant that two sets of eyes were on Kia and I, and nothing else was capturing their attention as much as we were.

The waitress came over to us then, causing me to look up at the frazzled girl. Cesario's on a Saturday night was Hell for the waiting staff. Everyone and their mom seemed to come to the restaurant on nights like this, especially rowdy high school students.

"What can I get you all?" She asked breathlessly as she flipped to a fresh page in her order pad.

I motioned for Gabe and Olivia to go on and order. As they did, Kia took the chance to whisper in my ear. "When it's time for us to order, you order for me."

I nodded with a impish smile, fully aware Olivia was glancing over at my date and I.

"And you two?" The waitress asked without looking over at us -- she was too busy scribbling away Gabe's and Olivia's orders.

Kia poked my in the ribs playfully, causing me to jump a little bit. Laughing, I began, "Um, we'd," I looked over a Kia with a gleam of sex in my eyes and then back at the waitress, "like half of a pepperoni pizza and two Mountain Dews."

The waitress finished writing down our order before mumbling she'd be back soon with our drinks.

"Aw, you're such a good guy ordering for me!" Kia squealed as she started to lace my jawline with kisses.

I couldn't help but blush. Who wouldn't in a situation like that?

Putting my arm around Kia and pulling her closer to me, I started, "What can I say?" There was a definite swagger in my voice as I laid it on thick. "Being a gentleman comes naturally for me when I'm around such a beautiful woman."

A flash of malice seared through Olivia's blue eyes. Her blood pressure seemed to be on the rise.

_What's wrong, Olivia? Gabe not proving to be a 'real man' after all?_

"Oh Sebastian!" Kia purred as she nuzzled her head on my shoulder. "You're the best!"

The waitress hurriedly brought our four drinks over, threw four straws down, and then disappeared into the hysteria of the restaurant.

Ripping the paper off of my straw, I began to sip on my Mountain Dew.

"Sebastian," Gabe said flatly.

I looked over at my opponent with raised eyes brows. "Yeah?"

"I read in the paper that you were the star in the game yesterday. Congratulations."

I have to admit, that was nice... really nice. Some of my begrudging feelings towards Gabe started to melt away. Smiling a small smile, I replied, "Thanks, but I wasn't the star. If anybody was, it was Duke."

Kia kissed my cheek. "You're so modest!" I felt my cheeks radiate as I shook my head. Kia lowered her voice just a tiny bit, to make it seem like what she was about to say was meant for my ears only, but it really wasn't meant for my ears only... more like another two sets of ears. "God, I can't wait to --"

"Sebastian!"

I looked up towards the entrance of Cesario's to find Duke, Andrew, and Toby. All of them were smiling and laughing, telling me they were here not because of the food, but because of the show.

Olivia looked down at her drink and huffed, "Great."

Duke, Toby, and Andrew walked over to our very full table and bumped fists with me. "Fellas," I mumbled, eying each of them, telling them telepathically I didn't want them here, "nice to see you." None of them were looking at me so much as they were looking at my date.

Smiling an even bigger smile, Duke shook my shoulder mindlessly. "Nice to see you too, Sebastian."

I placed my free hand high up on Kia's bare thigh possessively, telling Duke, Toby, and Andrew to GTFO (Get The Fuck Out) as nicely as I could. The boys seemed to get the message because they realized that Olivia and Gabe were sitting across from us.

"Oh, hey Olivia," Toby greeted airily because he was still phased by Kia. "And -- Sorry, I forgot your name."

Gabe brought Olivia even closer to him, "Gabe."

"Right," Andrew said as he pointed at Gabe.

Duke didn't care that Olivia was sitting right there. He was still giving Kia a nice look over. I looked over the restaurant to see if there were any booths open. As if by chance, the gang's usual booth was free.

"Hey guys, the booth's open. You should probably get it before someone else does!" I pointed out, so they would get a move on from their gawk-ery.

--

(Olivia Lennox)

_What the fuck!_

Duke, Toby, and Andrew usually drooled over me but just because some... whore sits next to Sebastian, I'm suddenly last week's flavor? Pissed would be an understatement if there ever was one.

Luckily though, Sebastian didn't like his friends blatantly staring at his date anymore than I did because he shuffled them off pretty quickly.

So far, Sebastian and Kia were winning this unspoken battle of the couples. That needed to change. Immediately.

Turning to Gabe, I gave him the look. It was the sign that Plan II was to start taking effect if we wanted this dinner to end victoriously for us.

I started to slide out of the booth. "I've got to go to the ladies' room. I'll be back in two."

As I started off towards the bathroom, I looked down at my watch and began to time myself.

Synchronization was key to Plan II. I was supposed to go to the ladies' room and wait a full minute before exiting. Gabe would intercept me as I exited, press me up against the wall in the little hall, and we'd wait for either Sebastian or Kia to stumble across us -- Gabe and I -- making out in the hall. Hopefully, Sebastian would make the discovery because that would jolt him awake more than Kia telling him what she found us doing.

I entered the small white, black, and red bathroom. Even though it was your typical high school hangout, Cesario's always managed to keep their bathrooms clean, which was a definite plus for everyone. Standing in front of the big mirror, I looked over myself. I looked hot, but Sebastian didn't seem affected in the least.

_Oh, right! It's because he has a girl with very little clothes on sitting right next to him, telling him he's a great guy. Gosh, I wonder why he doesn't really seem to notice you..._

"God, what am I doing?" I asked myself.

_You're trying to win Sebastian over. Stop asking stupid questions._

Shaking myself from all of the nervous and negative thoughts swirling around in my head, I checked my watch again. I had about fifteen more seconds to myself before I was to exit and be swept up by Gabe.

Looking over myself again, I made sure that my game face was on. Counting down in my head, I walked determinedly over to the door, took a deep breath, and pushed the door open quickly.

SMACK!

"Shit!" A very familiar voice rasped quietly.

Coming around the door, I found Sebastian holding his forehead where the door must've kissed him precariously. "Oh no! I'm so sorry!"

The red lights in the hall reminded me of Feist's _Let It Die_ cover. I started to listen to bands and musicians Sebastian had posted on his Facebook and that album really hit me.

Anyways, I found myself Gabe-less and Sebastian-ful.

_Plan II has been shot to hell._

"Don't worry about it," Sebastian said.

"What are you doing back here anyway?"

"Gabe said that he'd come back and check on you, but I told I'd do it. I didn't know that I was going to be hit in the head for doing it though!" Sebastian joked lightly as he leaned against the wall, still holding his head gingerly.

"Here," I stepped towards him and brought his hand away from his head. My heart started pounding against my ribcage. I feared that Sebastian could hear it. I looked up at the boy, who was looking unblinkingly at me. I swallowed, took my eyes away from his, and then cautiously reached my hand to his forehead. As soon as my fingertips touched the bump, Sebastian hissed.

"Sorry," I let out barely above a whisper.

Sebastian smiled his small goofy smile as our eyes connected again. "It's okay."

I didn't know how long we stood there staring at one another. It could've been only a few seconds, it could've been a full minute. I wouldn't know because time just seemed to bend when we were in these sort of awkward-meets-tense-meets-words-on-the-tip-of-your-tongue moments.

"Um," Sebastian finally said after a while, "I think we ought to get back to our dates."

Bringing my hand away from his forehead, I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, they're probably wondering."

_Who cares if they're wondering! _

Nonetheless, I followed the boy who held my heart back to our booth.

--

(Viola Hastings as Sebastian Hastings)

"Ooh, there you are!" Kia cooed as I sat down next to her. "I was starting to think you were ambushed by one of those silly girls who has a mad crush on you."

_Oh, if you only knew..._

I chanced a glance at Olivia, who was too wrapped up in Gabe's arms to even care about me or my broken skull. She was smiling happily up at her boyfriend, who was putting a slice of pizza on her plate.

Feeling disgusted, I lost my appetite. How could she just ignore what happened in the hall like that? Was I really just some substitute to her? I just stared at the pizza on my plate Kia must've put there when I was absent.

Out of nowhere, Kia tapped my foot under the table as if to say, eat! Following my friend's orders, I grabbed the pizza and began to scarf it down. With my mouth full like a chubby bunny, I looked over at my friend and gave her a sarcastic look. Kia started to laugh sillily, which made me laugh and painfully swallow my pizza.

"Gosh," Kia said as she framed my face with one hand. "You know exactly how to make feel so special," sincerity oozed out of her voice. I was a little stunned by it, and I was sure anyone else at the table would've been as well.

But I decided that if I ran with the confession, it would really show Olivia that I wasn't just some hot quickie substitute she could have in the library when she was feeling frisky. Nope, I was someone, not some piece of meat.

"Likewise," I said just as genuinely as Kia did, and at that, I gave my best gal pal a kiss.

I had never kissed Kia before, so I was a bit taken back by how good of a kisser she was. I couldn't stop my cheeks from heating up a bit from the thought.

Kia let out a small moan and then slid her tongue into my mouth, which, despite it being freaking awesome, made me wake up. Tongue action was a no-no, at least at the table. Plus, if I was going to be Frenchin' anyone, it would be the girl sitting across from me. So I broke the kiss before it got a little too distasteful and unforgivable.

Kia let out a happy laugh and I couldn't repress a very pleased smile on my part. Not having the guts to look at Olivia, I just looked at my nearly empty cup with a flushed face and a rapidly beating heart.

--

(Olivia Lennox)

_I can't win._

Just watching Sebastian and Kia practically make-out in front of me, I realized that. I can't win. Not when Kia is working the sex angle; not when Gabe is playing the cute, quiet, and selfless boyfriend. What guy gets jealous over that? It seems like I'm the only jealous person at this table!

Getting frustrated for the first time since sitting down -- I had gone through many emotions already -- I decided that if I was going to really hit the nail on the head, I was going to have play Kia's game, even if it meant me looking like a slut and dealing with rumors at school once Monday came around.

"Gabe," I said pointedly, turning to him, giving him my full attention. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that a certain brunette boy seemed interested in this move.

He looked kind of shocked to be spoken to so directly. "Yeah, hon?"

I looked down at the hem of his shirt and started playing with it. Upon looking back up at his questioning eyes, I replied. "Remember last Tuesday night?"

Nothing happened last Tuesday night, but Gabe knew to follow my lead. Clearing his throat and blushing, "Uh-huh..."

"Well," I gave him a mischievous smile, "let's just say..." I leaned in and whispered in his ear, making sure no one would overhear what I said, "you, me, and laser tag."

Sure, it wasn't sexy, but Gabe didn't expect sexy from me. He already found me that way. Besides, laser tag would make anyone react the way he did. Gabe sat up straighter, quickly reached for his cup, down its contents, and then with a shaky voice called, "Check!"

Biting my lip in a very seductive way, I turned back around to face Sebastian, very pleased with myself.

The waitress must've heard my 'boyfriend' because she came over to our table with a snarl in place. She probably didn't appreciate Gabe's impatience.

Our waitress started handing the two checks to the boys respectively -- she knew it would be their task to pay. When she handed Sebastian his and Kia's check, that's when I saw how pale he looked. He usually had a nice color, but then, he just looked sick to his stomach.

_Someone doesn't like insinuations much either... _

Was I vindictive? Yes. But who wouldn't be when most of your tries at rousing envy were shot down pitifully by that bombshell next to Sebastian? I mean, c'mon! I'm a girl (just like any) who knows how to go for the jugular -- any guy crushing on a girl, who was taken, wouldn't want to know about their sex life or even think about them hooking up. It was a thought no guy -- no person -- would ever want to exist in their head.

"Thanks for dinner, Seb," Kia said gratefully as she pecked him on the cheek before gathering her belongings.

Sebastian smiled half-heartedly and nodded as he took out his wallet and set down a twenty. "No problem."

Kia scooted towards him with sex in her eyes. "Now, dessert on the other hand," she laughed naughtily, "will be on me."

_Did she seriously just say that?! _

_She seriously just said that._

_Oh shit, why hadn't I thought of that!_

Sebastian perked up at the thought.

_Fuck me!_

He took her hand in his and got up from the table. "Well, you two," Sebastian said looking over at Gabe and I. "It was... nice... earing with you two. But _we_," he looked at Kia coquettishly, "have to go get dessert."

Dessert. Dessert? DESSERT! No... There wasn't going to be dessert. There would be sex!

He helped Kia get up, who just looked so ready to...

_Don't think about it, Olivia. No, no, no!_

Feeling the corners of my mouth form a forced smile, I could only say goodbye through clenched teeth.

"It was so nice meeting you, Olivia!" Kia squealed as she and Sebastian started walking away.

"Yeah," I said lowly to myself as I clenched Gabe's hand.

"Okay, okay! Please don't hurt me!" Gabe soon cried as he slid his hand out of mine.

I didn't stop staring at the two until they exited. "Oh, don't worry. You're not the one I want to hurt."

_You don't mean that..._

_I know._

--

A/N: So! Good? Okay? Amazing? Blah? Hopefully, this chapter lived up to all of your expectations. If didn't, you know I'm more than happy to hear your grievances. On the other hand, if you thought it rocked, please tell me! You know I'd love to hear that.

Anyways... I found it hard to write in some areas... I must admit that. I don't like hurting either character because I think they're awesome. There was one scene that I found really easy to write and that was the hall meet-up. I don't know what it is about Viola and Olivia, but they're just so easy to write when it's just the two of them. Chemistry, I guess.

Songs that got me through this chapter:

-Monkey 23 by the Kills

-Tape Song by the Kills

-Jesus Christ by Brand New

-Tautou by Brand New

-Hard to Find by American Analog Set

-Jenny Was a Friend of Mine by the Killers

-It's Only Time by the Magnetic Fields

-Lisa, Let's Make Love (It's Okay) by Oh No! Oh My!


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Goodness gracious! Y'all sent me a lot of reviews -- very in depth reviews... And I loved reading through them all! It's such a treat to read what you all are thinking and feeling about what's going on in the story or what might happen. So thank you so much for dropping me a line!

This chapter is going to be a reflective one for both Olivia and Viola... So you'll see what's going on in their heads.

--

(Viola Hastings as Sebastian Hastings)

"I think that went well!" Kia whispered happily as she looked over her shoulder at the brightly lit Cesario's.

I remained quiet. I didn't know if it really did or not. Sure, we left on a high note, but was it really the kind of note we should have hit to begin with?

"She looked like she was about to jump out of her seat and kill me!"

I shrugged and kicked a helpless rock half-heartedly.

Kia took notice of my unusual silence. Gently grabbing my arm and stopping me beneath a maple tree before we hit the parking lot, she asked, "Hey, what's wrong?"

Huffing, I looked up at the green canopy above our heads and then back at my friend. I dug my hands in my pockets before answering, "I don't know... I'm just... I don't know."

"Are you afraid she wasn't jealous? Because, let me tell you, she was. I think I'm at the top of her hit list now," Kia joked as she leaned against the tree trunk.

Scratching the back of my neck, I shook my head. "No, it's not that. I saw that! It's... Okay, I know we won and all, but it doesn't --"

"Feel like we won," Kia finished understandingly.

"Yeah," I let out softly.

Kia pushed herself off of the tree slowly and wrapped her arms around my left one. Neither of us said anything right away as we made our way over to my 1964 Mercury Comet Caliente. If a Macbook Pro was pure sex in the laptop world, my jet black convertible was its equivalent in the car world. It was the perfect ride for this particular date.

Unlocking Kia's door and then opening it for her, she paused before getting in. "Vi-Sebastian," she corrected herself before continuing on. "Tonight may not reap any of the things you wanted to accomplish because... both of you were trying to achieve the same thing: jealousy."

In all of my years I knew Kia, this was probably the one moment that showcased her incredible insight in it all its glory. Usually, it was Paul or Yvonne who's voice of reason or innate wit shined bright, but when Kia's did, it meant something.

I smiled a sad, understanding smile and nodded.

"Neither of you were willing to swallow your pride, so... most likely... neither of you are going to feel awesome about this date," Kia finished knowingly.

She offered me an apologetic smile before getting in the car.

Deep down I knew she was right, but everything in me hoped she wasn't.

--

(Olivia Lennox)

"So, did Sebastian want to rip Gabe a new one or what?" Maria asked flatly without looking up from her book when she heard me enter.

I wanted to say yes. Hell, I wanted to just speak! But, for some reason, the muscles and the will necessary in being able to speak didn't seem to want to cooperate. So I just slumped myself against the door instead.

Hearing no response, my best friend decided to tear her eyes away from whatever American classic she was reading to find me leaning against our dorm door with absolute pain written all over my face.

"Jesus, Liv!" Maria said getting up from her bed and throwing her book aside. "What happened?!"

I swallowed a painful lump in my throat and blinked back the tears that were threatening to fall before I shrugged brokenly. By this time, Maria knew it was best not to bother with any more questions. Instead, she gingerly guided me over to my bed and sat me down on it.

Sitting down next to me, Maria gave me the best thing ever -- a hug. "You know," Maria whispered as she rubbed my back lightly, "he's a stupid one, that Sebastian Hastings."

If I wasn't in so much pain, I would've laughed at that. In place of laughter, a fresh batch of stinging tears began to wage war with my eyes.

"But," Maria sighed, "you're in love with him. And what us girls do for love! We become masochists and martyrs."

Now at that, I did laugh one of those pathetic laughs only people who've been crying laugh. In turn, Maria laughed at her statement.

"This hurts now, but in the morning it'll hurt a little less," my best friend cooed as she broke from our hug. "I think sleep is the best remedy for tears and broken hearts. What do you think?"

Wiping away the small, insolent tears that fell away from their ranks, I nodded. "I agree."

"Okay," Maria responded with her voice cracking.

She was a great best friend. I could always depend on her to listen or to make me feel a little bit better. But what really proved her friendship and loyalty was whenever I was sad, she was sad too. And she never bore one of those fake sad facades that someone puts on just so they won't offend you. You could always expect Maria to be honest and forthcoming in that respect.

"Thanks," I shakily let out as I watched Maria get up from my bed and started turning down my bed.

She didn't reply. She didn't need to -- I knew she was more than glad to be the one picking up the pieces of my heart than some other random person.

I got up from my bed and kicked off my flats and then my jeans. I didn't care about changing into my pajamas; I just wanted to sleep and forget about the whole night. I needed to because if I thought about Sebastian and what he was doing with that godforsaken girl, then I wouldn't know what I would do. I just had to sleep and get through the night.

--

(Viola Hastings as Sebastian Hastings)

I walked into a dark and quiet dorm room. Not knowing whether or not Duke was in there, I decided that trying to make the least amount of noise would be the wisest choice. I squinted over towards Duke's bed and saw his silhouette lying there.

Setting my keys on the computer desk, I let out a heavy sigh.

"My mom always said that when someone huffs like that, they've got something weighing them down," a voice said out of nowhere.

_Duke._

"I didn't wake you, did I?" I asked as I slumped down on my bed raggedly.

I heard Duke's bed squeak, telling me he must've turned over to look at me. "No, I just got in myself."

I just nodded and stared up at the ceiling.

"So I'm guessing by the way you're acting you either had a terrible time during the date or Kia didn't feel very... yeah."

"You got it right the first time," I answered evenly as I continued to stare at the white ceiling above me.

A few more squeaks filled the room. "So... spill," Duke responded without a hint of self-interest. I knew that what I was about to stay was going to stay buried in this room. It was one of _those_ discussions.

"I just think that the double date did more harm than good," I let out honestly.

A flash of Olivia and Gabe kissing shot through my mind. Their hands possessively on one another -- entangling themselves. I felt anger begin to course through my body at the thought of them in action.

"How?" Duke continued to prod unhurriedly.

Huffing, I kicked my shoes off and slid up to my pillow. "We just kept trying to out do the other."

"So y'all went too far?" Duke asked as he grasped the situation. I was grateful he did. I didn't think I could take explaining the situation tonight. I could in the morning... after a few hours padded the confusion, the resentment... the pain. But not now, not when everything was too fresh and too blaring.

"Yeah, you could say that," I said weakly as I wrestled to get under my covers.

The tantalizing memory of Kia's tongue sliding into my mouth probingly while my heart raced acceptingly replayed in my mind. I inwardly chastised myself for letting such a thing even happen. It wasn't that it was grotesque or disgusting -- quite the contrary, really. It was because it was vindictive. It was flagrantly directed towards Olivia, who didn't deserve receiving that.

Duke cleared his throat softly. "So what do you think is gonna happen?"

Olivia's blue eyes were cancelled out beneath the red light in the hall. They were both searching and earnest as if asking me something. I wanted to answer her question with everything in me, but I had no idea what she was asking. Whatever it was... it didn't stand up next to Gabe. It seemed like magnetic pull we experienced in the hall didn't compare to him because whenever we left the hall, she seemed to have forgotten it. She was drawn to _him_ without the slightest thought of whatever happened back their under the red light between us.

I rubbed my face tiredly before huffing. "I have no idea," I answered soberly. "Nothing good, I bet."

Duke didn't ask any more questions after that. He knew that they would be useless and annoying. Instead, he let me slide into silence. After a few painful minutes of mulling over the events of the evening, I fell into a listless sleep.

--

(Olivia Lennox)

I didn't leave my room at all on Sunday. I could have... But I didn't feel like walking around with a fake smile in place. So, I hung out and watched French movies with Maria all day long, pigging out.

But today was Monday, and I had to leave my dorm.

Sliding into my flats, I lethargically grabbed my binders and notebooks.

"Today will fly by, I promise," Maria said as she, in turn, gathered her school supplies.

I didn't answer, I don't think she expected one.

As we walked over to the school from our dorm, I couldn't ignore the anger boiling at a low temperature in the pit of my stomach. Somewhere between the heartache and sadness, I felt burned... badly. I didn't want to act like the spurned lover, well, because I couldn't. I was Gabe's 'girlfriend' and Sebastian had a right to make-out and bang any girl he wanted to, even if it was a slut.

I let out a sigh. Why was I always so bent out of shape when it came to him? Why couldn't I just play it cool like I always did? Why did it seem like my heart was always being trampled?

_It's because you keep laying it on the line for him._

"Do you think you can handle it today?" Maria gently asked as we walked into our airy school.

"Handle what?" I asked flatly as a little freshman bumped into me.

Maria motioned all around her. "This, handle this."

I shrugged and brought my binders closer to my chest, "I don't know."

"Do you wanna skip? I'll skip with you," Maria offered as we turned down the hall my Economics class was on.

"Um," I started as I eyed my classroom. "No, thanks though. I think I need to face this today." I gave my best friend a warm smile.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sebastian and his crew staring at me. My insides turned icy and upside down. But I forged on and entered my least favorite class.

--

(Viola Hastings as Sebastian Hastings)

I couldn't pay attention to Mr. Caulfield to save my life. Sure, I loved English and all, but I couldn't get Olivia out of my head.

_What's new?_

_Oh, shut up._

She looked like she was doing okay, but then again, she didn't see _me _so that could be the reason. I mean, if she saw my ugly mug maybe she would've had a meltdown or sent me a malicious glare. Who knows?

"Mr. Hastings," Mr. Caulfield bellowed out of nowhere, causing me to sit on edge.

"Yes?"

Mr. Caulfield gave me a look all teachers give when they're trying to tell you to pay attention without having to mouth their lips. "What do you think about Dr. Frankenstein and Elizabeth's relationship?"

"Frankenstein and Elizabeth," I began lowly.

"Yes, you know who those two are, correct? You've been doing your outside reading?" Mr. Caulfield gratuitously interrupted before I could continue with my thoughts.

I hated Mr. Caulfield, I really did. I smirked and made sure my voice didn't have reproach in it. "Yes, Mr. Caulfield, I know who they are and I have been doing my outside reading."

"Continue then, Mr. Hastings!"

I let out a hollow laugh before doing just that. "Well, it's obvious that they love each other. They're kind of all they have. But it's Frankenstein's fault Elizabeth died."

"And why is that?" Mr. Caulfield prodded.

"Because he never told Elizabeth all of his secrets." I reasoned with irony searing through my mind. My mouth went dry when I realized how alike I was to Dr. Frankenstein. "She had no idea what kind of _thing_ was coming her way," I rasped out shakily.

Mr. Caulfield must've noticed my change in demeanor because his hard facade melted away. "Are you okay, Mr. Hastings? Do you need to go to the nurse?"

I shook my head and sunk a little into my chair. Was my masquerading going to lead to my eventual demise and Olivia's inevitable, figurative death?

"Jesus Christ," I whispered breathlessly to myself.

Duke gave me a nudge and whispered, "Hey, you okay?"

I didn't answer. I was too paralyzed and shell shocked to by what my secret could yield. Sure, I knew I was going to have to 'de-man-ify' myself someday. But I never completely grasped what would happen -- I always seemed to shove the thought aside. However, now seeing the outcome in plain sight... I was petrified.

_What the fuck have I gotten myself into?!_

_You never thought about the long run of things..._

Everything I gained at Illyria would explode in my face. Everything! I didn't so much care about what would happen to me... I could prepare myself for being the most hated person on campus, but I didn't want Olivia... or Duke to be scarred from the explosion. I knew that they would be because I was a selfish prick and I should've just focused on soccer. But no! I had to go and make these relationships under false circumstances.

"Dude," Duke said as he shook me out of reverie.

I looked up to find my best friend standing above me, looking at me as if I was going crazy.

"What?"

"The bell," Duke started slowly, "it rang."

"Oh," I said as I got up from my desk rather clumsily and gathered my stuff. "Sorry, I kind of zoned out."

Duke laughed sardonically. "Did you now?"

--

(Olivia Lennox)

"Are you sure you don't want to skip, Liv? Because I would totally skip with you and we can go shop or something!" Maria hurriedly offered again as we walked to my Biology class.

Her offer was very, very tempting. And as much as I wanted to take her up on it, I knew it wouldn't be right. I had to do it -- I had to face Sebastian no matter how upset and hurt I was.

I shook my head and gave my best friend a grateful smile. "I need to do this."

Maria nodded in understanding. We went silent for what seemed like the millionth time since Saturday night. Every time we did that, I seemed to grow more and more attached to quietness. I used to hate it, but when it's silent, you can think better, you can watch closer, and you can understand clearer about whatever is on your mind or out before you.

We finally turned down the science hall and walked towards my class. Before I entered, Maria stopped me.

"I swear, if you come out of this classroom crying, I'm going to castrate him!" Maria warned me.

I couldn't help but laugh at the thought of Maria Hayley Starkin' Sebastian. Her vow made me feel somewhat better in general. Nodding, I replied, "Well, let's hope I come out tear-free and happy."

Maria smiled a small smile and nodded. "He doesn't deserve you if he doesn't see what he's missing out on. Let him have his sluts if he can't see how awesome you are!"

Now, Maria was being way too sentimental for my good. "Oh, shut up, would you?" I told her as I looked up at the ceiling, willing my tears to go away.

"Alright, my lips are sealed," Maria replied. "Now, get in there before you second guess yourself!"

And at that, my best friend gave me a little nudge towards the door.

_Here goes nothing._

--

A/N: Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter. I know it doesn't show any V/O interaction, but I hope it was a nice read nonetheless. Next chapter will contain V/O, which is why I left off this chapter like I did.

Please throw me some reviews! If you thought this chapter was lacking in something, tell me! If you thought this chapter was "eh", tell me! If you thought this chapter was good, tell me! I'm very willing to listen and hear your thoughts and concerns out. So yeah, please review.

Until next time!

-TripleThreatDisco


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Sorry about this chapter not being posted sooner! But here it is... I'll give you reasons why at the end.

--

(Olivia Lennox)

Sebastian was already at our station when I entered the room. Unlike the previous times when I was in this classroom, I had no plan. I didn't want to fish for information and I didn't want to invoke jealousy. All I needed to do was get through this rather awkward predicament we always found ourselves in and then talk to him after class. What I was going to tell him, I had no clue... If I told him that my favorite color was the green that matched his eyes, then that would suffice. I just had to tell him something that would express where I stood exactly when it came to us.

I was tired of playing games. I was too bruised from them and they were just a waste of time. If I just had the guts to tell him on the soccer field when we both apologized that I didn't want to just be friends, then maybe we would've already had our one hundredth make-out and gave each other silly mix CDs... or we would've been miserable around each other because he only wanted to be friends and I couldn't just be that. Either way, I would've had an answer.

Setting my stuff down on the lab table, I gave Sebastian an off-shoot of his signature smile. "Hey," I greeted softly.

Sebastian seemed surprised by my amicable state. He probably thought I would be staring daggers at him. I normally would if he was any other boy. But he was Sebastian... and I couldn't be mad at him.

"Hey," he let out breathlessly.

An awkward silence ensued. I didn't know exactly how to broach the 'hey, I wanna talk to you about Saturday night' without it seemingly like I was A.) being a stalker, B.) being jealous, or C.) being random.

I glanced over at Sebastian to find him looking at me. He looked as if he wanted to say something. His cheeks became a little rosy as he embarrassedly looked away and then right back at me. "I was--"

Mrs. Plainview began to clap to get the class's attention.

_Dammit woman! The bell hasn't even rang. Will you shut the fuck up?!_

I didn't look over at her, I just kept looking at Sebastian, willing him to finish what he started. However, whatever Sebastian was going to say, he seemed to have lost his guts to do it. He just gave me small goofy smile as if apologizing.

We had the worst timing.

_Fate hates me._

--

(Viola Hastings as Sebastian Hastings)

Olivia's gaze knocked me senseless. Her honest blue eyes seemed to be laced by want. It was a look I'd been dying to see since the library make-out, and there it was, staring back at me unabashedly.

Feeling embarrassed for gawking and a little unnerved by how alluring she was in that moment, I looked all around the white, sterile classroom to see that we were all alone. No one could be found. It was just Olivia and I sitting at our lab station.

_What the...?_

"Viola," Olivia coquettishly began as she rounded the table leisurely, letting her fingertips lightly slide across the cool table top. I felt chills run all over my body -- the memory of her fingers gently grabbing the nape of my neck while her warm breath grazed over my skin.

I felt my palms become sweaty and my breathing pick up watching her coming around towards me with that carnal thirst in her eyes. Her blue eyes locked with mine made me feel both at home and electric.

Olivia finally stood before me with an impish smile sliding across her lips while her eyes pierced me. Neither of us said a thing. We only looked at each other, knowing that words were not necessary.

Leaning down towards me, Olivia crashed her lips against me inarticulately. It was like all of the pent up tension and frustration exploded like an atom bomb, leaving total destruction to all of the walls we had built in vain to protect our hearts against one another.

She was just like how I remembered her -- earnest and amorous. It was as if we were picking up from where left off last time. However, unlike last time, walls weren't really around, so we had to improvise. Getting up off of my stool, I guided Olivia up against the lab station. As soon as we had that little extra support, that's when all our inhibitions vanished.

Olivia roughly untucked my dress shirt. Feeling her slide hands up my shirt, running them over the small of my back and stomach, I almost started having heart palpitations, which caused me to stop kissing her for a second.

The blue eyed girl must've not liked this because she grabbed my red tie and pulled me commandingly into another kiss. She slid her tongue leisurely into my mouth and entangled it with mine familiarly.

Her efforts were ravenous and contagious, so much so that I found my hand inching quite wantonly up Olivia's skirt. Her skirt's fabric coarsely ran over the back of my hand while her smooth skin seemed to covet my touch. The action caused Olivia to moan approvingly into our kiss, making my heart beat dangerously fast.

"Sebastian?" Olivia asked.

_Why did she call me that?_

"Hmm?" I murmured back as I continued to my willful ascent.

"Did you sleep during the whole lecture?"

Suddenly, I realized that I was not, in fact, kissing Olivia nor had I been.

_The dreamworld is where the party is at..._

_Are you fucking drunk? Snap out of it!_

Picking my head up off of the lab table, I wiped my eyes sleepily. The brightly lit room burned my eyes slightly. Even if I did only dream about kissing Olivia... It was way better than staying awake and listening to Mrs. Plainview ramble on and on about things that didn't interest me.

Laughing at my stupidity, I answered, "Yeah."

She looked like she was hiding something, but after a few seconds, Olivia cracked a smile and started to laugh lightly. "Gosh, you're hopeless."

_You have no idea!_

Barely blushing, I conceded with a shrug and a shameless smile. "I can't help myself."

We were flowing... just like the good ol' days almost. The only thing missing was the comfortable silences in between topics, and the only reason those were absent was because we wanted to say things but, for whatever reason, we didn't. Why? Because we were either too afraid to say them or too proud.I was tired of being both ways...

"Hey Liv," I started, having finally letting my determination win. Olivia looked up at me with expectant eyes. God, those blue eyes -- you could be the most unwavering person, but as soon you looked into those kind, dancing eyes, you would be lost in the space between reality and fantasy.

Shaking my head a bit to regain my senses, I continued on without looking at her directly. "I was wondering if you wanna go on a walk with me tonight. Maybe talk about everything that's happened over the past few weeks? Just, y'know, clear the air."

It seemed like I proposed the right idea and asked the right questions because Olivia nodded almost immediately after the words left my mouth. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," she responded with excitement slipping in.

"Cool! Well, like usual, I have soccer practice until five. Does five-thirty sound all right?"

"Sounds good to me," Olivia responded.

--

(Olivia Lennox)

"So?" Maria asked as she linked her arm with mine as I walked out of the classroom.

I couldn't suppress a faint smile, which my best friend definitely saw. "He wants to talk."

Maria smiled a little too -- a good sign that whatever was going on was going on correctly. "Well, it's about time!"

We walked outside, towards our dorm on the other side of campus.

"He probably realized what a tool he's been," Maria continued as she looked back towards the practice pitch quickly.

I shrugged, "I don't know. I'd say both of us have been acting that way."

Maria and I didn't say anything for a while. We both were thinking about what the talk was going to entail. Would everything come out into the open? Was I going to be okay with whatever conclusion we reached -- good or bad? Did Sebastian just want to see if I liked Kia; and if he did, why was I subjected to his ignorance?

_Questions... Questions... Questions... Go away._

"What do you think will happen?" Maria finally asked. It was bound to happen.

Sighing and then looking down at my feet, I openly said, "No clue. I'm not even going to try to predict what will happen because it never does. So yeah."

Maria nodded. "Then, let me rephrase. What do you want to happen?"

I flicked a rock with my foot weakly. I liked a lot to happen. I'd like honesty; I'd like goofy smiles in abundance; I'd like side glances; and I'd like Sebastian to finally give me a chance.

"I want closure," I simply put. "I just want all of this frustration, second-guessing, and confusion to end. I'm tired of worrying. I think we're both going into this talk with those things in mind."

"Nicely put, Liv," Maria softly said as she gave me a small nudge.

I laughed softly.

--

(Viola Hastings as Sebastian Hastings)

"So y'all are just gonna talk?" Duke asked as he pushed himself up off of the ground when Coach Dinklage blew his whistle to signal the end of practice.

I was so weak, I just sat on the ground with heavy arms. Fifty push-ups was forty too many for me. "Yeah, we need to get on the same page already."

"For real!" Toby huffed loudly as he rolled onto his back.

Andrew got up off of the ground gingerly. "You guys have so much subtext, that I feel like I'm watching an episode of One Tree Hill when I'm around y'all."

Toby and Duke looked at Andrew as if he just said the worst thing ever. But I had to hand it to Andrew, he was right. It was what wasn't said that spoke the loudest.

"I know, I know! It's just, gosh... No matter how much I want to say something to her, I either chicken out or I think of how she has _Gabe_, which makes me chicken out."

Duke extended his hand to me, which I took, causing me to almost be catapulted into the atmosphere when Duke pulled to me to my feet. "Well," Duke said as he looked me directly in the eye, "don't let your head mess with you. You know what needs to be said, so say it."

"It's not that easy," I shot back as I squinted towards the sidelines, making out half of the team surrounding the water bottles.

Duke shook his head. "It should be though. If you're willing to go out on a limb, you'll say whatever feels right."

"Yeah," Toby said as he slowly got up from the ground, "get yourself out there."

Andrew came over a gave me a hearty pat. "If she didn't like you, she wouldn't be agreeing to clear the air. There's something there that one of you needs to pursue and acknowledge out loud. Then the other will too."

Wow. Was I teaching the choir how to sing all along? Were these the same boys that were hopeless when it came to hitting on girls?

"What time is it?" I asked flatly as I looked down at my cleats.

Duke shielded his eyes and looked over at the tower's clock. "Five o'nine."

_--_

(Olivia Lennox)

Walking down to the practice field, I saw that practice was already over since no one was on the field. I decided to wait for Sebastian on the bleachers until he came out of the team locker room.

I was slightly nervous, but, if anything, I was okay with the situation. I didn't have a upside-down stomach... or a cluttered head, so I knew that I wouldn't be as rash as I had been lately.

I watched the sun slowly slide down the orange and red sky, hoping this talk would reap good things and not resentment. I didn't have to sit long with that on my mind though because that's when Sebastian emerged from the locker room.

He looked like he always did -- handsome. I couldn't help but smile just at his silhouette as he stopped and looked at the same sunset I had been staring at only moments earlier. I wondered what he was thinking about -- if I was on his mind.

"Sebastian!" I called out to him finally as I decided not to extend the wait.

He turned around to find me looking at him up in the stands. I motioned for him to come up, which he immediately started to do.

_Don't choke._

_Hey now! We're supposed to be on the same team!_

"Hey," Sebastian greeted lightly as he took a seat next to me. His green eyes matched his goofy smile, but I could tell that this talk we were going to have was weighing on his mind.

"Hey yourself," I responded as I looked down at my feet.

"So..." Sebastian started, which caused me to look over at him again. He had his head bent down with an awkward smile in place of his signature one.

Exhaling softly, I decided that I was going to have to take the reigns. But where was I going to start?

_The beginning is always good._

Nodding to myself, I turned towards my crush. "I'm going to be completely honest, and I hope that you won't be freaked out by it."

Sebastian didn't say anything. He only sat there waiting for whatever I was going to say, looking uneasy and hopeful at the same time.

"When we ran into each other," I laughed at the memory, "I liked you. I mean, I really liked you. But, for some reason, you never really seemed to feel the same way about me. Until --"

"The library that one day," Sebastian cut in softly without looking at me.

Smiling slightly, I continued on, "Exactly... And we both know how that one ended."

"Miserably," Sebastian answered embarrassedly.

A horrible numb feeling exploded in my gut as I remembered Sebastian running out of the library, leaving me behind with only insecure questions and a broken heart. But I shook the feeling away. I never wanted to remember it again.

"Look," Sebastian said flatly, looking over at me with a sober yet sad look in his eyes. "I'm not gonna lie, I like you. But I understand that you're with Gabe... and you seem to forget the very thought of me when you're around him. I know -- I get it." And at that, Sebastian got up from his seat and looked out at the soccer field. "You don't have to explain why we wouldn't work out."

I felt like someone just threw a curve ball that slammed into my head. "Wait! What?"

Sebastian continued to look at the soccer field glumly. "You don't need to worry about me, Olivia. I get that you're happy with Gabe. He's a good guy."

Feeling a little bit miffed about our incessant communication troubles, I grabbed Sebastian's wrist and yanked him back down into his seat aggressively.

_I cannot believe how idiotic we both are!_

"Okay, I'm going to try and say this as plainly as possible so you won't take it any other way other than what it means." I spat out as I looked Sebastian directly in the eye. He looked shocked by my outright earnest state. "I still like you, Sebastian. And I don't like anyone else."

Confusion was plastered all over the poor boy's face. "B-but, what about Gabe?"

"Gabe... Gabe was just a person I used to make you jealous."

His eyes were wide with wonderment. "So that means --"

"It was all a silly charade," I responded quickly.

Sebastian looked away from me and back out at the soccer field. He looked paler than usual. He seemed to have so many things shooting through his head at once. But finally, he licked his dry lips and cleared his throat, which didn't help his shaky voice. "I've got to tell you something, Olivia," Sebastian said barely above a whisper.

His sickly state made me wonder exactly what he was going to tell me. "What is it, Sebastian?" I let out lowly, panic jilting my voice unsteadily.

"It's exactly that," he replied as he looked over at me. "My name's not Sebastian."

--

A/N: This has been the most difficult chapter I've ever written in my life. I practically had to pull teeth to write it... I usually just walk away when a story gives me so much trouble (this one did, you have no idea). But I didn't because I knew how many people were enjoying it, and I knew y'all deserved a completed story -- not saying this is complete yet. So I'm sticking with it despite no muse. I'm a muse kind of writer, too... So it's very troublesome not to have one. So yeah.

I hope this chapter at least fed the need for an update!

Thanks for all of your support and I'm sorry for not being able to update more promptly.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: I'm just going to say right now is if you want to read my apology, just scroll to the bottom. If you just want to read the chapter right now, cool!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own, nor did I create these characters. Please don't sue me. Thanks. I'll really appreciate it.

--

(Viola Hastings as Sebastian Hastings)

Olivia looked at me with confusion and humor written all over her face as if asking me if this was my idea of a joke.

_What did I just say?! Did I seriously just say, "My name isn't Sebastian"? Fuck! Fuck me! _

I couldn't believe I just had a Freudian slip, and it was just one of those little ones that you can simply laugh off with mild embarrassment. It was one of those slips that would happen to some character in a movie. It wasn't something that should happen to_ me_ before the Cornwall game. Maybe _during _the game... but not before the game.

The longer I didn't respond, the more perplexed Olivia seemed. She probably could tell that I couldn't believe I just said what I said because, knowing me, it was written all over my face as if screaming "WTF".

_What should I do?_

_SCRAMBLE, VIOLA! SCRAMBLE!_

My heart was racing. I could feel heat radiating off of my face, telling me that I was bright red from embarrassment and fear.

_... Or you could just let the cat out of the bag._

For some strange reason, that idea calmed me down some. Maybe owning up to the whole charade I was pulling off (Lord knows how) would "fix" everything, including this situation. It would be a good reason for Olivia to keep her distance from me. It would definitely make our situation easier, albeit weird and awkward.

But that wouldn't be the right way to "fix" this, would it? No. And let's face it, I don't deserve the easy way out. Not after dragging Olivia down into this mess I created for the both of us.

"Are you okay?" Olivia asked worriedly. She inched a little closer to me, so she could rest her hand on top of mine to show that she was genuinely concerned.

I shook my head to answer her.

This really seemed to make Olivia anxious. I felt even more guilty now. In a minute or two, after I let her in on my little secret, she will feel betrayed, hurt, and even played. She will probably hate me. She'll regret everything -- from being concerned to ever liking me.

"What's wrong then?" She asked quietly. Olivia kept her voice even, but her blue eyes gave away that she was incredibly worried.

_Just do it..._

I cleared my throat lightly and slid my hand out from under hers. "You're not going to want to touch me after I tell you this," I whispered lowly.

Olivia seemed frightened by this small disclaimer of mine. She sat up a little straighter as if instinctually she was preparing herself to have the rug pulled out from underneath her. Her usually bright blue eyes dimmed dramatically. She was ready... at least she probably thought she was.

I could feel tears wanting to sting my eyes, but I wouldn't let them win out just yet. I couldn't. It wouldn't be fair for Olivia to have to deal with me being a cry baby while I drop a bomb on her. She deserved to feel angry, and I didn't want to take that away from her.

"Um..." I started weakly. "I'm a twin."

Olivia nodded slightly as if to say she already knew that.

_Duh._

I laughed a dry laugh. "Right... Well," I huffed a beleaguered huff, knowing that this would be a moment I would remember for the rest of my life, and not as a good one, "I have a twin --"

"A twin sister, named Viola. I know all of this already, Sebastian." Olivia interrupted impatiently, but gently at the same time. She looked on edge. She didn't know where this was going and I could tell I was starting to freak her out majorly.

I shook my head. "No," I quietly let out. "No, I have a twin brother, named Sebastian."

Olivia furrowed her brows. Consternation was written all over her face. I knew that this confused her more than I hoped, so I knew I was going to have to do the whole Tah-Dah thing.

"My name is Viola."

--

(Olivia Lennox)

"I-I'm sorry. I, ugh... I don't think I heard you right." I rasped out quickly. Blood was pounding into my eardrums at a very quick and loud rate, so I easily didn't comprehend what Sebastian said.

Sebastian looked so broken down. He couldn't bring himself to look at me right then. Instead, he looked down at his feet, but I could tell that he knew exactly what I was doing, even if I couldn't bring myself to understand what I was doing. He was just that intuitive.

He ran his right hand over his face before he spoke again. "I'm not Sebastian. I'm Viola."

It felt as if someone was playing a ridiculously elaborate and mean joke on me. "What do you mean you're Viola? You're Sebastian -- you're a guy!" I practically shouted. Sebastian looked around to see if anyone had heard that, but no one was around the bleachers or soccer field. We were alone. "You're Sebastian Hastings!"

He was the boy I loved. Hell, he was exactly what I wanted in my future husband. He was who I saw standing at the end of the aisle as I daydreamed about my future wedding now. But what the _fuck_ was he talking about? Was he trying to say, in so many words, that he felt like he was a girl -- a girl who he envisioned to be exactly like his sister Viola -- trapped inside his very male body of his?

_Is this really happening?_

"I'm not a boy, Liv," he choked out. While I was in my reverie of sorts, he must've started to wage a fight against tears because he angrily wiped a few of them away. I felt guilty for not 'getting' what he was trying to tell me.

He looked up at me. He looked like he was being tortured. I felt so badly for him despite feeling completely bewildered.

"I'm pretending to be my twin brother so I can beat Cornwall, my actual school, at soccer," he said looking straight at me. "I never would have done any of this if the boys' coach would've just let us girls tryout for the team!"

_What? _

"Wait..." I tried to understand, but my stubborn will wouldn't let me. Why was he telling me he wasn't allowed to tryout for the boys' soccer team?

_Because he's a girl._

"You're... a-a girl?" The words came out easier than I thought they would, but that didn't stop me from feeling absolutely sick to my stomach.

"Yeah."

Tears blurred my vision. "You're, ugh, you're pretending to be your brother so you can play soccer?" I asked flatly, without emotion despite feeling all kinds of emotions.

"Yeah," he said again shakily. "I'm so sorry, Oliv--"

I interrupted him before he could fully apologize to me. Before I could even feel sad, I was starting to feel pissed. Just completely angry. "Soccer. You did all of _this_ for _soccer_."

He didn't reply. He just wiped away a few stray tears that slid down his face.

Right then and there I stopped seeing Sebastian and I started seeing a girl before me. A sad, broken girl... in a boy's wig and clothes. My Sebastian was gone. He was replaced by a girl in a boy's wig and clothes.

_How could I have been so stupid? How could I have not seen her all this time?_

_You liked the boy she was pretending to be... _

_Yeah, but, that doesn't just excuse not being more... aware to everything! I'm so fucking stupid. I can't deal with this right now. I can't. I haven't even begun to understand exactly what's happening right now other than: Sebastian was a girl parading as her twin brother; that Sebastian, at least the one I have fallen for, doesn't exist. He's just the creation of a very, very determined girl._

"Yeah, I pretty much did this terrible thing, all for soccer," she admitted, not looking at me.

I felt numb with some anger registering every few seconds or so. I had been played. I had been... used.

"So what are you going to do after the Cornwall game? Leave?" I asked out of nowhere with some spite layered thickly over the top of my questions.

Sebast-I mean... _Viola_ fiddled with the tip of her tie to keep her eyes adverted from my (most likely) fiery ones. "I don't know. I suppose I'll have to."

"Yeah, well, you'll be lucky then." I spat out fiercely.

She looked up at me finally, obviously confused by my declaration.

"You won't have to deal with people staring at you here. I'll be the one they do that to. After all, I was the one who made-out with you in the library. I'll be the circus freak, who couldn't tell that she'd been kissing a girl all along!"

Viola frowned sadly and a fresh batch of tears evaded her green eyes. "Liv, I'm sorry. I don't know what I can do to --"

I stood up. Seething and hurt wouldn't begin to describe me. "I think you've done enough."

And with that, I walked away from the girl who used to be Sebastian.

--

(Viola Hastings as Viola Hastings)

What have I gotten myself into? I couldn't believe that I really expected to come out clean after I impersonated my brother at a new school while building friendships and relationships with my new classmates. I was playing with people's emotions and I was playing with their trust. Who the fuck was I to do that?

_One selfish bitch, that's who._

I didn't bother to go back to the dorms. I just walked off of campus and straight to the nearest bus stop that was just outside of campus. I sat down on the empty bench and called Paul.

He came and got me as quickly as he could. He must've have heard by the shakiness of my voice that this was an emergency.

Paul didn't ask me right away what happened, but I could tell that that was going to be the first thing he would ask me once we got back to his apartment.

I was glad I wasn't met with a barrage of questions from him. He usually would've started rattling them off if this situation was any less serious. But Paul knew that I wasn't in the mood for it, and most likely wouldn't be until I had some time to mull over it myself.

When we finally got to his place (which was a cute little apartment, pretty close to Cornwall and not too far away from my house, so the gang would usually just meet up there to avoid my crazy, awkward mom at my place), Paul handed me a bag.

"Some of your clothes are in it. I always had some on hand just in case this day would come," he explained simply.

Taking the bag, I immediately headed to the bathroom to change into them. When I closed the bathroom door behind me, I stared at myself in the mirror. Here I was, Viola Hastings, dressed up like my twin brother with puffy eyes, a pale face, and a wig slightly off-kilter.

_So this is how Olivia is going to remember me... _

I felt some tears sting my eyes, but I told myself I wasn't going to cry. Not again. Not alone in Paul's bathroom while changing. Not while I knew Olivia was probably facing a myriad of emotions herself, ranging from anger to heartache to disbelief to, finally, realization that I could've told her from the beginning who I really was without starting this messy, romantic relationship. I mean, she's all 'Girl Power' and probably would've thought it was cool and hilarious, even if a little strange, that I was committed enough to soccer to dress up like my brother and tryout for my school's rival team. But, hey, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, am I right?

But I didn't do that. Instead, I let her kiss me, I let her fall in love with me. I didn't think about the 'down the road" part... or any of the consequences to the actions I was committing now. I just thought about the here and now. And look where that got me -- between a rock and a hard place. And look at where it put Olivia -- at the mercy of her classmates once my little dress-up game was over.

_Way to go, Viola. You win the Biggest Jerk award._

"Hey, Vi. Are you okay in there? You're not, like, shaking and crying in the tub are you?" Paul asked through the door.

Even though I hated myself, I had to laugh a little at what he asked. "No, Paul. I'm just thinking."

"Okay, take all the time you need. Just don't start wailing out of nowhere... because that will just be a little ridiculous and overdramatic, even for you, hon." By the way he said it, I could tell he was trying to make me laugh. He probably guessed I was beating myself up, so he wanted to cheer me up some.

I changed into a pair of blue jeans and a simple white V-neck. I ripped my fake eyebrows off and pulled my wig off. I shook my hair up and looked at myself in the mirror again. I had forgotten slightly what the normal me looked like over the past few weeks. I felt as if I was a stranger in my own body almost. I was so used to looking in the mirror and seeing myself as 'Sebastian: the star soccer player, the _boy_ star soccer player'. But now, all I saw was me, and a very depressed and tired me at that.

I stuffed my Illyria uniform into the bag Paul gave me and headed back to the living room, guessing he'd be there. I was right, he and a cup of cocoa were waiting for me.

"You okay?" He asked gently as he handed me the cup.

I nodded as I took my seat on the couch next to him. "Yeah, I'm okay as I can be without crying my eyes out."

"So what exactly happened, Vi?"

I huffed sadly and turned to face him. "I was an idiot and told Olivia that I was Viola Hastings, not Sebastian Hastings, the boy she fell in love with."

His jaw dropped for a second, but then he regained his composure.

"She didn't take it well... Not that I can blame her," I continued slowly. "I mean, if Olivia told me she wasn't who I thought she was, I'm sure I'd react the exact same way she did -- maybe even worse."

"And exactly how did she react?" Paul asked me, trying to get some details out of me so he could grasp the gravity of the situation clearly.

I set my cocoa down, knowing I wasn't in the mood to drink it. Nay! I didn't deserve to drink such a comforting drink that was designed to make people feel warm and happy. "Well, at first, she didn't get what I was saying. I think she thought I was just making a bad joke. But then, once I finally just said I was a girl dressed up as her twin, she seemed to comprehend that I wasn't, in fact, a boy."

Paul raised his eyebrows, "And I bet she wasn't happy about that!"

"Nope. She didn't appreciate that I did it all for soccer either. That I played with her emotions all because of a game." I replied flatly. I kicked myself inwardly for allowing myself to do that to her.

But Paul wasn't going to let me have an all out inward brawl because he quickly asked, "So she basically went for your jugular?"

I wished she had... I wish she would've laid it on thick. I wish she would've called me all of the names in the book and then smacked me. It would've been easier to handle and then dismiss her as a psycho. But she didn't. She was almost graceful about her anger, which made the guilt even worse, and made me care for her even more than already I did.

"No, no, she didn't," I answered quietly.

"No hair flips, no Z-snaps?" Paul joked. I gave him a 'not now, Paul' look and he stopped smiling. "Sorry... But damn! She has one hell of a character if she didn't make a mockery of you right then and there."

"I know!" I exclaimed as I covered my face with my hands. "I wish she had, Paul! I wish she would've acted like a crazy person, but she didn't. She was just so..." I gave up trying to explain how she was... because nothing would suffice. "Maybe she didn't fully comprehend everything then. Maybe she just wanted to get away."

Silence followed. Paul didn't say anything right away; he was obviously mulling over what I had just said because his brows were knitted together thoughtfully.

"That is a possibility," he finally let out a few seconds later. "But, and this could be just me, but I think she held herself together because she still cares for you."

I opened my mouth to cut in, but he held up a finger to tell me to let him to finish.

"And no matter how mad she is, no matter how much she wanted to cut into you, she couldn't."

Despite feeling like a complete piece of shit, the very thought of Olivia caring enough about not do those things gave me some hope.

But that hope didn't last too long when Paul asked his next question. "Do you think she'll tell people? Y'know, that you're a girl parading around as a boy?"

Paranoia and fear creeped into my head. But almost as quickly as it entered my brain, it was shoved out. I knew Olivia. She was the nicest, most considerate person. She would talk to Eunice when most people would run away at the prospect. She laughed at all of my dorky jokes. Olivia might be seriously, seriously angry with me, but she would never be vindictive... because she was just too lovely to ever be, which is why I had fallen for her. She was the single most caring person, and that was an incredibly beautiful attribute anyone could ever have.

"No," I said simply. "No, I don't think so."

-----

A/N: I know.

I know. I know...

Y'all probably hate me. I'm sorry I was an asshole and never updated. I'm sorry I kept y'all hanging with that cliffhanger for about a year and half (or something like that -- I don't know when I updated last). But a person PMed like last night or something, telling me I needed to update, that I was a terrible tease (in so many words) and that I was kind of being torturous to everyone who had read this story and wanted an ending for it (this isn't the ending, though). So thank you, Klasado. You kicked my butt into gear. I needed it.

I'm not even going to ask y'all to review since that would be asking too much... I don't deserve any.

I hope everyone was okay with this chapter. I hope the character representations are similar to how I left them off. If not, please tell me because I hate reading stories where the characters seem to have major personality shifts in the middle of them. It makes me stop and think... and when you're reading, you should be wrapped up in what you're reading -- not distracted by the writer's inability to stay consistent with their characters (not saying these are my characters, because obviously they're not).

Gosh, I've never been so nervous about a chapter in my life! LOL. I hope you all seriously did enjoy it, even though it's depressing as hell. It wasn't fun to write at all, so I imagine it's not fun to read. So yeah... here's to the next few chapters being more fun. Maybe!

Again, I'm sorry.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: To simply put it, y'all amaze me. Thanks for still caring and thanks for still reading!

--

(Olivia Lennox)

I had nowhere to go after I left Sebast--I mean, _Viola_ crying on the bleachers. I didn't think that far into my plan of just leaving. Who would when they just were told that the guy they were seriously crushing on wasn't actually a guy, but a girl with a very, very crazy plan? No one.

I didn't want to go back to my dorm because Maria would immediately want to know the lowdown on everything before I even closed the door behind me. And then once she saw that I was shocked as hell, she would most likely rave about how boys really are the stupid sex. And, honestly, I didn't feel like hearing that sort of thing right now... No more than I wanted to tell Maria about what _really_ happened and not what she _thinks_ happened. It would just be too much of a mindfuck and, really, it wasn't her business (despite how often I made it her business to know my business).

Instead of going to more appropriate places of solitude, I decided to risk it and go home. My house was only five minutes away from campus, so if I wanted to come back to school tomorrow, I could.

I lived in a nice house. Some would even call it a picture perfect house -- a house many girls dream up when they're younger and are envisioning their lives as a wife and mother. Well, it goes without saying, I wasn't a very imaginative child, so I just saw myself living in the exact same house when I got older. I looked at my parents as who I wanted to emulate. I wanted a husband like my father: a man who knew what hard work and sacrifice meant. And I wanted to grow up and be just like my mother... That is, until I stumbled across my mom kissing the next door neighbor one afternoon.

They never saw me, but that didn't stop me from feeling embarrassed for finding two people in such a position. I felt as if I had crossed a line, one that was both delicate and volatile. But soon embarrassment was replaced by pure, unadulterated anger and resentment once the reality of what such a tender kiss meant dawned on me. I had only seen my mom kiss my dad before that moment, and seeing her kiss this other man was like a slap in the face. I was only nine, but I knew this perfect life I thought I had wasn't so perfect after all. And, well, this also goes without saying: I never really had a great relationship with my mom since that day.

I walked down the narrow brick walk that led up to my family's front door and tried to set up a mini-game plan in my head. I didn't want anyone to ask me any hard hitting questions. I just wanted to pretend that I came home to study or get away from Maria without actually raising the alarm that something serious was the matter.

_Here goes nothing..._

I slowly unlocked the door and let myself in. Just like most nights in the Lennox house, the place smelled like whatever meal my mom cooked for my dad and herself that night for dinner.

"Roast beef and mashed potatoes," I whispered to myself as the kitchen smells hit me.

"Hello?" My mom called out from the kitchen.

Throwing my keys down on the foyer table, I huffed, "It's me, mom!"

"Olivia," she started as she walked out from the kitchen as she wiped her hands on a dish towel, "what are you doing home?"

I shrugged, "I needed to study in peace. Maria's been driving me up the wall lately."

My mom grimaced a little. "I'm sorry, Liv. That's why I think it's silly for you live on campus when you could just as easily live here."

I didn't reply. We had this discussion nearly every time I decided to come home for whatever reason.

"So are you going to eat with your father and I tonight?" My mom asked to cut the silence short. She was used to those silences by now, but I could tell that the older I got and the closer college seemed to be, the silences bothered her more and more. She must've guessed that once college came around, I'd be here less and less until, finally, I never came back home, except to see my dad.

I started to head upstairs to my room, "Um... Yeah, I think I will." By the time I finished my reply, I was in my bedroom and closing the door.

_Sanctuary..._

For the first time since walking away from Illyria, the gravity of the situation hit me. I leaned against my door and slid down to the floor, bringing my knees up to my chest. The tears came easily and without any fight on my part.

I didn't really know what to think or what to feel. It's not like people write handbooks about sort of thing. Was I hurt for being led on for so long? Yes, especially when Viola could've told me many times that she was actually Viola and not the perfectly adorable and goofy Sebastian. Was I angry that I had not been? Oh, fuck yes! But more than anything, I was crying because of the letdown I was experiencing.

I seriously believed that Sebastian wasn't just some boy who had the potential of being my high school sweetheart, but something possibly even more than that. He was going to be someone I made memories with... Someone down the line I could think about and tell my grandchildren about.

But he never existed.

_Well, technically. Technically, _he_ never did... but _she_ did. _

I wiped my falling tears away from my face slowly. I shouldn't be thinking like that... Not now. Not when I just had my heart ripped out and then my brain as well.

_Why not? She has to be similar to Sebastian..._

"But she's not Sebastian!" I whispered to myself as I leaned my head back against the door lightly and looked up at the ceiling.

Was I experiencing some offshoot of the stages of grief? Had I exited the denial stage and was now entering the bargaining one? Was I seriously trying to bargain for Viola?

_She's a girl!_

_Like that really makes a difference._

Feeling a fresh batch of tears beginning to sting my eyes, I limply said, "No, no, no... I'm not going to think about this."

There was a light knock on my door. "Olivia? Are you okay, honey?"

It was my mom. Inwardly, I reproached myself for crying this close to the door. Clearing my throat, I replied, "Yeah, I'm fi-ine!" I winced when I heard myself stutter.

_No way of getting out of this one now..._

"Liv, you can tell me. I won't tell your father; he's not even home yet." My mother told me gently. "Just let me in."

For the first time in nine years, I surprised myself when it came to my mom. I got up from the floor and opened the door slowly. My mom looked like a worried mother alright. Her brows was furrowed, showing off her worry lines, and she looked tense. Her eyes were soft though. "I can come in then?" she asked quietly.

I nodded and stepped away from the door.

She came in cautiously as if she were walking on ice. I guess, I couldn't blame her. I never really allowed her to come into my room much when I was in there. So she must've felt as if this was foreign soil.

"I know this is probably the last question you want to hear right now, but... why are you crying, Olivia?" She she asked, wringing her hands slightly.

I opened my mouth to say that it was nothing, that I was overreacting, but nothing came out, so I slowly shut it.

My mom then prompted me with another question, as if hoping it would jump start the conversation. "Did Maria say something?"

I shook my head. "No, Maria's great."

"So if it's not about your best friend, then it must to be about a boy," my mother intuitively said as she leaned against the wall.

I scoffed as I sat down on my bed. It was a scoff that didn't exclaim 'yeah right'. It was definitely one that said 'yeah, those bastards'.

My mom continued on since she knew I wasn't going to say much, at least not with her, at least... not right away. "Ah! So it's a boy that's got you crying? Well, that's one of the oldest sob stories in the book!"

_Oh, this one is currently a really, really new sob story for the book, thank you very much!_

"Liv," my mom started again, "you're a very beautiful, young woman. I bet you could have to your pick of any boy at that school! Don't let this one break your heart because, before you know it, you'll be off at college! No need to waste your last semester of high school heartbroken. Besides, college boys are much more good looking and... mature. Well, at least, most of the times!" This part caused my mom to laugh a little. The thought of college boys being more mature probably brought back hilarious instances of the contrary from her days at her college.

"I understand that," I croaked out. A few tears slipped down my face.

"So he must really be a great guy if he's still got you crying, despite you knowing that there are plenty of other fish in the sea, especially ones like Gabe?" I rolled my eyes at that. My mom always had a soft spot for Gabe. And, how could she not? He was the epitome of the guy every mom dreams to have her daughter fall in love with and marry. Only... I threw a wrench into that dream by never liking Gabe like that.  

"Why don't you tell me about him, then?" My mom asked, shaking me out of my reverie of sorts.

I shrugged, "He's nothing but a lie now." It's true. He never existed. Therefore, he was a lie told to me. However, I don't think my mom would think along these lines, at least not until Viola came out to the entire world as really being a cross-dressing soccer player.

"Most boys at his age are willing to tell a, ugh, young woman," my mom's demeanor changed from worried to incredibly anxious in a matter of seconds, "anything to, um, to, um, sleep... with them."

 I interjected her quickly, "Whoa, there! Mom, I never slept with him."

_But you sure did think about it... a lot._

I had... But who doesn't, especially at this age? It wasn't so long ago, girls were married off long before their eighteenth birthdays. So sex isn't as new for teenage girls as much as parents, teachers, the general adult public, and the political body would like to make everyone think.

However, I couldn't think about it anymore... not with Viola thrown into the mix.

_Why not? You've had plenty of girl crushes before._

_Yes, but those were celebrities! Completely different!_

Feeling pleased with my last inner retort against my other inner half, I stopped thinking about sex with Sebastian and Viola, and turned my attention back to my mom. She looked visably relieved and pleasantly surprised by my admission of current abstinence.

_I guess my mom's a realist._

"Well, good! I guess I can scratch off 'knocked up' off my list of things to ask about, then!" She jokingly let out after a few seconds of contemplation.

Even though I was currently feeling rather crummy, I couldn't help but laugh at that.

_--_

(Viola Hastings as Viola Hastings)

"I can't believe I'm about to do this," I said as I opened Paul's laptop.

"Well, it can't be any worse than actually revealing to her that you're a girl... dressed up as your brother." Paul jested as he came up behind me and peered over my shoulder as I entered his webcam application.

I felt a little sick to my stomach... The prospect of sending Olivia a video made me want to keel over. "What am I going to say?" I asked, turning to look at my best guy friend.

He shrugged and gave me a sad smile. "Whatever comes to your mind, I guess. I don't know, I'm new at this too. I just think this could over well, that is, if done right."

_And how do you do this right?_

"I think I'm going to puke."

"Mind the computer," was all Paul said as he left the living room, most likely to give me privacy.

I sighed, "Right."

I looked at myself on the computer. I looked quite nervous and a little sad, but beyond that... I looked like a girl. This would be the first time Olivia would see me as, well, me, Viola Hastings. Sister of slightly feminine looking Sebastian, the boy she fell in love with. Only I was 'him' the whole time...

_Is this really the way to go about it?_

_It's like a bandaid: wrip it off and get it over with._

I continued to look at the mirror image of myself on Paul's computer. Scores of questions flooded my head, some as shallow as wondering if Olivia would think I'm pretty to some questioning what I should say... The multitude of them made it difficult for me to find a place to start.

_How about the beginning? That's always good place to start..._

"Yeah, the beginning," I whispered to myself as I ran my hand through my hair. "Okay, I can do this... I can... do this."

And, at that, I hit the record button on the webcam app and began my message to Olivia.

Five minutes later... I was done.

"Are you done?" Paul shouted from his bedroom, which was down the hall, as soon as I shut his laptop.

I laughed quietly to myself and then answered, "Yeah, you weirdo! I'm done."

Before I could even blink, Paul rounded the corner and asked me ravenously, "What did you say?"

"Wouldn't you like to know." I replied evilly as I got up from the computer chair and walked into the kitchen to grab something to eat, because, oddly enough, my stomach was starting to function a little more normally now that I had gotten the confession/diplomatic message off of my chest.

Paul followed me into the kitchen, mouth slightly agape. This humored me a little, but also made me feel a bit guilty. After all, Paul did help me out incredibly tonight. "Okay, okay. Stop looking at me like a sad, little, shocked puppy. I'll tell you!"

"Yes!" Paul practically shouted as he clapped happily.

I shook my head amusedly at his antics. "You're such a child!"

"At heart... But seriously! Tell me!" Paul cried further as he continued to follow me back into his living room, where we plopped back down onto the couch.

"I'll tell you one thing, and one thing only," I divulged, looking into his excited and curious eyes to show him I meant serious business.

He nodded promptly, "Spill."

"I tried to show her I was really the same person underneath it all," I told him as I brought my knees up to my chest. "That I was sorry for ever bringing her into this minefield I created for myself, and... that I never once used her, despite what she may be thinking. I couldn't because," I paused to try and find the right words, "because I didn't plan for some like her to ever come into my life and make me forget about soccer and... everything else."

Paul smiled a knowing smile.

"What?" I asked, not strong willed enough to resist the temptation of knowing.

"That was four things, for starters," he retorted with four fingers held up. I, in return, slapped his knee for being snarky. "Ow! And if you were as sincere with me just now as you were in that video, then Olivia will have to be stupid as hell for not forgiving you... among other things." Paul replied sweetly. So sweetly, in fact, tears began to blur my eyes.

I smiled idiotically at myself. "Gosh, where's the off button for these damn tears?"

Paul gave a big hug. It was exactly what I needed.

--

A/N: I know it's a short chapter, but I'm a little under the gun school-wise. Wordsworth and Emerson are kind of dominating my free time, thanks to my prof (I'm not really bothered by Emerson because he's a badass). So it's a page or two shorter than I normally write. I'm sorry for that, but I much rather finish the chapter and get it out than have it on my computer for another week... making y'all think I'm skirting out on my promise! LOL.

I know I introduced Liv's mom without really describing her physically... It was purposefully done that way. She's a blank canvas, almost. You will see her some more, maybe get a clearer picture of her than what you got in this chapter. I'm a fan of hers, to say the least. I think Olivia gave her too hard of a time. We're all human... We all do really selfish and shitty things, which always turns around and bite us in the ass. I think Olivia will finally realize this soon. :)

As for upcoming chapters, I'm not going to promise that there will be a new one every Monday night. I'm a college student with a crazy semester load. So please bear with me. However, I'm going to try and update every week... I may be a couple days late, like next week. The weekend I have planned out already is going to be fun, crazy, and jam-packed. Plus, on Sunday, the Grammys are on! (Go Gaga! #FreeKanye if Taylor Swift wins... LOL.) And my friends love it when I host these award show parties because I give awesome commentary. Yes, I'm quite the commentator. Okay... I'm getting off subject.

What I'm trying to say is... have faith. If I don't post it Monday night, it will definitely be posted the Monday after. I will try and promise that. If I don't have it posted by the Monday after, feel free to PM and tell me to get my act together. However, if this falls on the Monday of spring break, it's a big fat no! LOL.

Anyways, I hope y'all had your appetite satiated a bit with this chapter. It took me awhile on Viola's part. It actually started out as Kia berating Viola, which I felt was really OOC for her as well as nonsensical. So I altogether scrapped it. And I'm glad I did... because it would've been one ridiculous segment, in my opinion.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: I know I'm a week late! Eek!

This chapter is UNEDITED. I'm under the gun for school right now. I know it's not a very good excuse, but it was either this or not writing the chapter for another couple of days. So, please, excuse me this once! :)

Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed! You guys seriously make me smile some really big smiles. And some of you are hilarious little buggers! ;)

--

(Olivia Lennox)

My life is upside down. It was as if I just did the "Time Warp" and ended up at Dr. Frank-N-Furter's castle... Only instead of it being Dr. Frank-N-Furter, it was Viola dressed up as Sebastian... My Sebastian. I walked in with sound sexual orientation, and after a series of crazy and unforeseeable events, was now questioning that so-called "sound" sexual orientation, much like Brad and Janet experienced a sexual awakening while in the presence of the Scientist.

_What the fuck kind of metaphor was that? _

_Hey now! I said my life was upside down! And besides, don't tell me RHPS isn't cool!_

_Besides the point, but that's a given. However, the real question is whether you willingly enter any sort of "Time Warp" again..._

"No..." I whispered flatly to myself as I looked up at my unmoving ceiling fan. "No, I'm not going to answer that now."

_Why not? _

"Because it's too soon, that's why!" I replied coyly. But who was I fooling? Myself? Yeah... right.

Why was I so afraid to _like_ Viola? It wasn't as if I never thought another girl was hot... Hell, I thought that just by scrolling down through my favorite gossip site everyday. But that was different, wasn't it? It's easier to admit someone was beautiful of the same sex. But wanting to kiss them and possibly do more with them? That's a completely different issue in and of itself.

_To like someone of the same sex is natural. _

_I know that. Hell, I've always considered myself a gay rights advocate. But..._

_But?_

"Just forget it!" I practically shouted at myself as I kicked my bed's comforter off of me. The frustration of all this inner self vs. self debating was making me feel like I was about to catch on fire.

_What's so wrong with being, at the most, bisexual?_

_Nothing, if I'm talking about someone else being bisexual! I'm Olivia Lennox! I'm not supposed to _feel _this way about a girl! I'm supposed to only like boys. I'm supposed to... supposed to... be... to not be this way!_

And so the truth was finally exposed, the vile and self-loathing truth that it was. I felt tears begin to sting my eyes. This was all too much; it was all too fast; and I wasn't ready to even begin to comprehend what was being discovered within the complex mystery of myself at the moment. How was I able to cope with something I never dreamed would be attached to me, like credentials? Maybe Eunice... But not me. I wasn't ready for 'Olivia Lennox: the girl who used to think she was straight, but was actually bisexual'.

_You sound so bitchy and pathetic right now._

_Shut up!_

_Just watch "But I'm a Cheerleader!" and get over yourself._

This reference stopped my train of thoughts-related-to-rebutting immediately. "How do I even know about that movie?"

_Believe me, honey. You started it by bringing up RHPS -- one of the most gay-friendly films in the universe!_

"This can't be happening. I mean, I'm obviously confused, but not sexually confused... Right?" I whispered to no one in particular, not even to myself. I was completely ignoring the cheeky snipe my other half shot at me. "I fell for Sebastian, the boy... Not Viola, the girl."

_Wouldn't she be 'the boy' too if we're basing our line of thought on technicalities here? She did create this boy you fell for. She may not have advertised herself in a completely honest way... But you fell for the guy because of his personality, not because he was a guy. Ergo, the personality is the most influential and important factor in all of this 'liking'. _

Deep down, I knew this was true, and it scared me beyond belief. And could you blame me? I'm completely out of my depth confronting some serious questions about my identity! I've seen myself as this one way since practically forever, or at least for the better part of my seventeen years (the part when one's sexuality was beginning to become part of how they see and relate to the world). And now... just because this one amazing person, who elaborately and mercilessly hoodwinked me, pulls back this invisible veil a little, forcing me to be awake at 2:37 AM to think about me and where I stand with myself... It's some heavy shit, man.

Sitting up slowly in my bed, I looked at myself in the mirror on my dresser. I looked past all of the physical attributes and meticulously judged my character. While I was showing a rather shaky resilience at the moment, I knew past the shock, past the confusion, there was a strength more powerful than the uneasiness I was feeling. That I could handle whatever truths about myself, no matter the timing or the matter in which they came up. That down the line, whether I come to terms to being straight, gay, bisexual, try-sexual, or just a girl who goes after the person and not the sex... I knew I'd be okay. I could trust in that.

Was I still confused and pissed as hell now that this could even be happening right now? Yes. But there's never a good time for this sort of honesty time, or what I'm now going to call the 'I think we, as in Me, Myself, and I, should have a talk' time. No one likes those discussions... Because the truth or the path to accepting it hurts, a lot.

At that moment, my phone's text message jingle went off.

"Oh fuck... Reality," I huffed to myself as I slumped back down on my bed. "I don't have the will to get up right now."

I looked back over at the clock on my night stand. It was 2:45 AM. "Who in the world is texting me right now anyway?" Even though curiosity killed the cat, I knew I would probably be safe in this particular situation to let curiosity override my general tiredness.

Walking over to my phone, I picked it up off the dresser. Clicking the side button to reawaken my phone, I saw that it was Maria.

Suddenly, it hit me... Maria must've been worried sick. I had been ignoring my phone completely since getting home. I looked through all of my unopened texts, and they all were from my best friend.

_Fuck! She must be thinking about calling the police right now._

When I thought this, I read the text she'd just sent me: "I'm going to call the cops and your parents soon if you don't give me some sign that you are, in fact, alive."

Feeling a little guilty, I quickly typed out a text in response, which read: "Hey Maria. I'm alive. Sorry, I came home after school and I've been completely ignoring my phone. You don't need to call the Popo."

It hadn't even been thirty seconds after sending my text, Maria replied back: "Thank goodness! I wish you would've told me this sooner. But I'm guessing you're talk with Sebastian didn't go well then?"

I sighed. "Oh Maria... Always the questioner!" I definitely wasn't going to tell Maria anything Viola told me. In my mind, telling Maria that Sebastian wasn't Sebastian, but a girl named Viola wasn't my right. And while I was paying more mind to Viola's feelings than she had to mine, I knew keeping her secret was the right thing to do.

"To be honest, I don't want to talk about it. Not now... Probably not for a while." I responded back.

I knew that Maria would let that particular question slide for now, but she would have ten more lined up in hopes of getting some sort of grasp on the situation I was unusually mum about. So I knew I wasn't going to be getting away from her texts for awhile, so I decided to get on the computer to help pass the time. Maybe a little gossip, maybe some real news...

I turned on my computer. It had been a while I had used this one since I was rarely ever home. My background was of Maria and I making silly faces from our junior year. Seeing this picture made me smile a bit.

My phone played the little jingle again. "How are you feeling then?" Maria asked.

I opened a web browser before I replied. "Eh, not feeling all that great, but I'm trying to deal with it."

Out of habit, I went to my email and looked through the new messages I had received. Most of them were just random alert messages, telling me So-and-So had sent me a such-and-such on a certain social networking site. But one of the new emails stuck out to me. It's title said nothing more than 'I'm sorry, Olivia'. Without even thinking for a second, I clicked on the email.

The message read as:

_Hey Olivia,_

_Please download the video I have attached to this email. I hope it explains why I did the things I did. _

_I'm sorry._

_--Viola_

My phone made it's little jingle, but I didn't pay any attention to it. I was too busy debating whether or not I wanted to download and watch whatever Viola sent me.On one hand, I really wanted to have a better explanation than what I got. But, on the other hand, I still felt hurt and bitter and angry and... confused about everything she did to me. I didn't want to really look at her, or hear her voice, or listen to her explanations.

_What's the harm in watching it?_

_Curiosity did kill the cat, my friend. _

_You didn't think so earlier..._

Hesitantly, I clicked on the attachment. It began to download immediately, more quickly than I had hoped it would. I didn't know exactly if I was really ready for a video message from the girl that turned my life upside down as if it was nothing at all to her.

As soon as the video was done downloading, my computer started to play it.

"Thanks for asking my permission, computer." I hissed lowly.

Viola's face appeared on my screen. She didn't look so different from Sebastian. She had longer hair, of course, and less bushy brows... But mostly like Sebastian. The same expressive eyes and goofy smile, except here the smile was nonexistent. I could tell by the way her brows were slightly furrowed and the way her eyes were saying 'sorry' with the utmost sincerity that she was serious.

"Hey," she let out meekly as she unsurely looked into her webcam. "I'm guessing you're probably wondering why I'm even sending you this, especially since it's only been a couple of hours since I dropped one hell of a bombshell on you."

_Yep... My thoughts exactly._

"It's not because I'm a creeper or anything, though I'm sure you think I am one, but that's not why I'm doing this... Stay focused, Vi," she whispered to herself nervously. Viola let out an anxious breath, obviously trying to calm her jitters.

"Um, I'm doing this video thing so I can explain myself better since I did a really shitty job earlier today," Viola said as she finally got back on track.

I let out a hollow laugh. "I don't think you need to explain yourself anymore. I know exactly what happened. You dressed up like a boy, made me fall for you, and then -- oh look-y there -- you turn out to be a girl. See? Story explained."

As if on cue, Viola continued, "And I'm sure you think that this is overkill since you probably have quite a good grasp on the situation. But... There are some things I wasn't able to say. So yeah."

_Riiight._

_Hey, Negative Nancy, sit down and shut the fuck up. I'm trying to comprehend what's going here. KTHXBYE._

"When I decided to pretend to be my brother in order to prove to everyone on the Cornwall boys' team that girls could play soccer with the big boys, I was only thinking about that."

"You don't say!" I let out sarcastically.

"And I know that that was my first mistake. I didn't think about anyone here at Illyria. I only thought about my life at Cornwall and how I was sticking it to those idiots once I kicked their asses out on the field." Viola wasn't really looking at her webcam as she recounted this. Instead, she was pointedly avoiding it, but every now and then she would chance a glance up at it. When she did, I couldn't help but feel a little ashamed of my bitter anger because I saw how frightened she looked.

She cleared her throat, "I didn't really come to Illyria for any other reason. Just for soccer. However, after many, many," Viola paused here and made a wild motion with her hands, "crazy and ridiculous acts of coolness, I began to make friends." Her personality was starting to overcome her anxiousness. She had some animation in her familiar green eyes for a minute. She reminded me so much of Sebastian then. But as soon as that vivacity came over her, it left. Apprehension reemerged. "Most of them were on the soccer field, so I still felt okay. I was in my soccer bubble. I didn't have to worry about anything or anyone else... Until you came into the picture."

My ears began to ring. My heart began to quicken. Hell, even my mouth went a little dry. Why did I have these reactions when I knew 'us' would come up? I have no idea. Maybe it was because watching her talk about it through such a detached medium caused me to forget a little about reality. I have no idea. It just did. I can't explain it.

"You... Olivia, you were not part of my plan." She looked directly at the webcam in that instant. "You didn't fit into this outrageous, underdog plot I was setting up for myself. But, for some reason, I couldn't help falling for you."

I tried to swallow the lump in my throat that had shown up out of nowhere, but couldn't.

"I knew it was selfish and really, really horrible of me, but I just wasn't thinking in terms of the future. I guess, I was starting to just live in the moment. The lines of my goal and my actual yet fake life as Sebastian were starting blur... because of you."

_But that doesn't mean you can just get away with murder._

"And, I know that doesn't explain away my actions." Viola put simply and earnestly.

_Didn't see that one coming, did you?_

_Oh, shut up..._

Viola let out a sad sigh before trudging on. "Olivia, I know apologies only go so far. But that's all I really have. I'm sorry. I did an incredibly selfish thing. I lied to you, and I'm pretty sure I gave you one hell of a mindfuck. And I'm so, so sorry for that. But you have to understand that, even though this may gross you out, I did and... do really like you. I know you probably don't even want to look or think about me. I totally can't blame you for that."

My heart dropped when she said this. It would've been easier for her to say that she had gotten caught up in the lie she had created and that she never had feelings for me. Then we both could just write this entire thing off as one big fucking joke. But she didn't. And, in that moment, I didn't know if I could either...

"I don't know what I am going to do now," Viola whispered shakily. Tears began to fall from her eyes. I couldn't help but feel badly for her. "I, ugh," she started on slowly as she wiped away the tears all while avoiding to look at the webcam again. "I know what I should do, and that's to come clean to everyone. Take all of the shit I deserve without saying a word in my defense... But that's kinda scary."

Viola was in an even worse predicament than me. Not only would two towns see her as a freak for cross-dressing for this amount of time, but everyone she became friends in the meantime would feel exactly like I did, sans the whole romantic strings. She was going to get a lot of shit. Unlike her, I could write off my crush... I could play the victim. But her... She was going to be the monster, the freak, the queer. None of which she could erase because no one would be willing to see past the charade she put on.

But then Viola did something so beautiful, unexpected, and powerful: she smiled bravely through her tears. She accepted her fate. I couldn't help but be filled with awe. "But... I've made my bed, I guessing I gotta lie in it," she proclaimed before a quizzical look came over her face. "I never really understood that expression." She let out a laugh.

I couldn't help but letting a laugh out either.

Viola looked much more comfortable after she laughed. It must've released some of the tension. "Well, I don't know what else to say, and I don't really know if I really said everything I wanted to say. Just know one thing: You are amazing, Olivia Lennox. If you never talked to me again, I'd be okay with that. I'd be happy remembering the few weeks I had you in my life. And with that, I guess I'll end this vid." Viola sat up and moved her hand toward the mouse and waved goodbye before the screen went blank.

I felt a little overwhelmed, but not terribly so. I was still able to comprehend exactly what was running through my head, albeit at a fast pace.

Was I really that shocked how tender and heart-wrenchingly honest Viola was? No... Not really if I'm being honest with myself. Was I surprised how closely she reminded me of Sebastian personality-wise? No... I mean, there was a part of me that always knew she would be the same adorably goofy person I had come to know. But was I surprised she actually _liked_ me? Yes. I know, I know. How could I be? I had seen the fire in her eyes when she looked at me, even if she was dressed up like a boy. It wasn't as if she could just put on a boy's uniform and lead a completely separate life away from her true feelings. No one could do that.

So the big question that began to weigh heavily on my mind was... Did I like her?

_Of course you do._

_Let me rephrase. Was I ready to like Viola?_

_... _

_That's what I thought. _

I didn't know.

--

A/N: I know it's not a long chapter. But it's longer than my last chapter! So that's a small victory, right? LOL.

Anyways, I would like to thank everyone again for reviewing! I love reading what y'all have to say. It's a treat. I know I'm _extremely _lucky to get the amount that I do. I know that there are many other authors out there that don't get much love at all, so I really do appreciate the support I get from you guys.

This is probably the first chapter in a long time that I had to draw from some of my personal experiences... Be it through what I've said to people or what people have said to me, with coming to terms of my sexual orientation and the confusing and crazy that time was, and just feeling conflicted. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that I hope it feels authentic, the way Olivia questions and battles with herself (even if she's kind of processing everything more quickly than one would in real life).

Also, this is the first chapter in a long time written from only one of the character's POVs. I don't think this has happened since the first chapter of the story. So I'm sorry if y'all were hoping for some Viola. She'll definitely be in the next chapter!

Like I said earlier... This chapter is NOT EDITED. Please forgive me for this. But I really must start working on my Emerson and Thoreau readings!

Please tell me what you thought of this chapter! I'm actually kind of nervous about it, haha!


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